


Zero Host

by EeveeNicks



Series: Human [4]
Category: Aliens (1986), Metroid Series
Genre: Aliens, Bioweapons, F/F, Fugitive Samus, Government Conspiracy, LGBT, Lesbian Relationship, Lesbian intimacy, Lesbians in Space, Mental Health Issues, Metroid Fusion, Mystery, PTSD, Psychological Torture, Survival Horror, Suspense, Violence, Xenomorph (Alien) - Freeform, bisexual female lead, cloning, metroids, scifi horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-09-22 04:37:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 43
Words: 156,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9583952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EeveeNicks/pseuds/EeveeNicks
Summary: When she had set out to accompany a group scientists to SR-388, Samus Aran had never imagined the mission would end in her going rogue and blowing up the planet and BSL station. Now a wanted fugitive, Samus must fight new enemies within the Federation itself. She'll discover the insidious depths of their bioweapon projects, including the mysterious "Zero Host" weapon experiment.





	1. Chapter 1: Rogue

**Author's Note:**

> Author's Note: Well, I hadn't been planning on writing another Metroid story so soon, but I've had this little plot bunny hopping around in my head for a while and really needed to start a new project. (Apologies to anyone who was hoping for more "Eevee Quest" instead. I'm having a bit of writer's block on that story.)
> 
> This story, as you may have already figured out, takes place after the events of Metroid Fusion. It is in the same AU as my other Metroid stories, but they are not required reading to understand this one. I do think that reading "Human" and "Spawn" will enhance your understanding of the world and characters, but they are also dramas and thus much slower than this story. While not required, I strongly recommend reading "Xenophobia" before reading this story. It's a Metroid/Aliens crossover, but knowledge of Aliens in not required to understand it. (Although Aliens is a great movies and I highly recommend it.) Of course, if you do read this story without reading the others, know that it contains spoilers for the others in the series.
> 
> Anyway, I've always wanted to do something post-Fusion with a fugitive Samus, so I'm looking forward to writing this story. Hope you enjoy! :)

Drops of red blood fell to the floor, burning superficial holes in the steel hull. The cargo bay was dark, titanium crates stacked halfway up to its massive ceiling, but its vast expanse left a lot of empty space. The low hum of the engines could be heard, though it was muffled by the thick steel walls. It had been closed up and locked hours ago as the ship's crew had retired for the simulated night aboard the transport craft. It would not be open again until they reached their destination.

Not so much as a rodent stirred anywhere within the pristine cargo hold, save for a small band of creatures in a dark corner far from the main doors. Hidden from the view of anyone who might enter, six entities stood behind a row of the massive transport crates. Three blue, tailless primates looked curiously out into the rest of the bay. Their ears looked too large on their small bodies but were particularly sensitive to sounds, and they listened intently for any sounds coming from elsewhere on the ship. For the moment, all was quiet.

Hidden further in the shadows was a large, green bird-like creature with sharp red eyes. Its legs were long and powerful, although its small wings suggested it lacked the ability to fly. A chick of the same species stood at its feet as the intelligent-looking bird stood watch over its young and the final member of their group. Up against the wall sat a heavily armored humanoid figure. Its body was concealed beneath a yellow armor that appeared to have an orange layer of organic armor covering vast stretches of its limbs and breastplate. Below the right elbow, there was a long green cannon in place of an arm, and on its other half, razor sharp spikes protruded from its forearm. At the moment, the humanoid was not wearing a helmet, revealing the mostly-human looking face of a woman.

Her long blonde hair was tied back in a messy, high ponytail caked with sweat. Black vein-like lines traveled down the right side of her face, giving her blue-green eyes an other worldly look. As she raised her armored palm up to her face, she spat into it and pulled it away to see dark blood mixed with her saliva. Disgusted, she let it drip to the ground where it burned through the top layer as though it were strongly acidic. The woman did not seem at all surprised by this, but she was used to it.

The tall green bird looked at her with concern, its feathery green mohawk giving it an almost comical look.

"I'm fine," the woman said in a deep voice, looking up at the avian alien.

The bird continued to stare at her skeptically, as though to say that if the woman were truly fine, she would not be spitting out blood.

"Seriously," the woman said with more force as she glared at her companion. She was well versed in communicating with avian species, even if this creature, a dachora, was not the type with whom she normally spoke. "My armor is done repairing itself, and my body heals quickly."

At least, her body always had healed quickly in the past. As she ran her tongue over her teeth, she noted for the thousandth time that she now possessed long fangs where her eyeteeth had been, yet another side effect of her latest mutation. Holding up her left hand again, she stared at its sharp forearm protrusions with the same disinterested disgust with which she had earlier regarded her own spit. A quick glance over the rest of her body did not seem to improve her mood at all as she leaned back more heavily against the wall and sighed.

The woman, Samus Aran, was a mercenary. At least, she had been a mercenary until the incident that had landed her in this situation. Most of her career had been fairly straight forward, either protecting things or shooting things and occasionally doing both simultaneously. That was a vast oversimplification of what her jobs had entailed over the years, but in retrospect, most had not involved the difficult sort of moral quandaries with which she had found herself struggling on her last mission. Although, on some level she was not surprised to find herself where she was now. Since the end of the Space Pirate War almost five years ago, the general climate of the Galactic Federation and its territories had been changing, and she had long since suspected they were no longer the entity she had once fought to preserve.

This last mission though, the one that had landed her in this mess, had been so stupidly simple it boggled her mind to think just how ridiculously out of control everything had spiraled. She had contracted with an employer with whom she had contracted dozens of times in the past, a company called Biologic. All she was supposed to do this time around was lead a few scientists around the remains of SR-388, a planet she had cleared of a Metroid infestation five years back, and cover them while they collected flora and fauna samples to bring back to the space labs they were building.

She cursed herself for being so careless as to let one of the native creatures, a gelatinous parasite referred to as "X" infect her and not doing anything to address the situation until she fell unconscious and had to be ejected from her ship as it veered off course and exploded as it crashed into an asteroid. While it had not been her only ship, it had been her favorite and the one she had owned the longest, but the loss of her ship had not been the worst part of the ordeal. As the parasite spread through her body, she was rescued by a team of Federation scientists who had taken her straight into an emergency surgery in an attempt to save her life.

Of course, her powersuit was fully integrated with her central nervous system, and there was no way for anyone to remove it while she was unconscious, so they had cut into the armor, removing whole large sections of it. Supposedly, they had done it because they thought it would save her, but the mercenary had her doubts. At some point, someone had just so happened to suggest injecting her with a vaccine made from the cells of the last Metroid, a specimen Samus herself had delivered to the Federation Ceres Station toward the end of the Space Pirate War. It was news to her that any cells from the creature still existed, having been assured long ago that all Metroid samples had been lost in the attack on the Ceres Station and no further research could be done with Metroid cells.

If course, she had not asked any questions about that when the vaccine made from the Metroid DNA had "miraculously" saved her life, restoring her to full consciousness as an organic blue layer grew over the sections of her armor that had been forcibly removed. She was not sure what the new blue outer layer had been, although it felt, in a way, like it was the suit itself scarring over rapidly in an attempt to protect its vulnerable areas. Whatever it was, it left her armor with a drastically different appearance, and given that the armor was essentially a part of her body, she loathed wondering if her humanoid body within it had also been drastically altered.

 _That was no miracle,_ she thought bitterly as she coughed and spat more blood into her palm.  _They set me up. They knew about the X all along and had the Metroid vaccine ready as soon as I got there. Pretending to save my life was just an excuse for them to cripple my defense systems._

Indeed, despite the new organic layer, the surgery had left the mercenary severely weakened and nearly defenseless against the creatures she had been dispatched to fight soon after awakening. They had the audacity to send her onboard the Biologic Space Labs to try to save it from falling to the X infestation they had "unwittingly" brought aboard when they sent over the discarded portions of her suit for research, pieces of her suit they had cut away and taken without her knowledge or permission. Given that the X had the power to mimic their deceased hosts, she knew exactly what they were trying to create using the parts of her suit, but they had definitely gotten more than they bargained for, and that creature had busted out of their quarantine bay without any effort at all.

The SA-X. Just thinking about that creature made Samus's blood run cold, even now that she knew all remaining specimens had been blasted to bits when she had sent the BSL on a collision course to planet SR-388, destroying both the station and the planet in the process. While it had wiped out the X parasite species, it also destroyed anything that might have escaped the bioweapons experiment labs she had discovered on the BSL. She was not sure if they fully realized the irony of that situation, how they had tricked her into the mission on the BSL in order to stop the SA-X from destroying their cloned Metroids, the very same species she had personally exterminated. And when that had failed, their efforts had shifted to an even greater prize: capturing the SA-X.

The sour acidity of her blood filled her mouth as she thought about that creature, the SA-X with its dead eyes as it had stared at her, hunting her down like a dog as she had been forced to hide repeatedly in its presence. Too weak from her near death at the mercy of the X infection, she had not even had the ability to scratch the SA-X for most of the BSL mission. Because it was her. An X clone of Samus herself at full power, and its power was terrifying. Even still, she had not uttered a word of complaint at having to carry on the mission despite its presence because she had honestly believed she was there to rescue survivors. But the ultimate betrayal had come when she learned that the Federation had intentionally withheld weapons from her that would have given her the ability to fight it, choosing instead to keep her weak so that they might attempt to capture and use the SA-X without her being able to destroy it or oppose them.

Learning how the Federation had turned on her and used her as a pawn had stung more than any wound she had been dealt in that battle, and at the end of it all, she had hit them back ten-fold, going rogue and completely annihilating both their prized bioweapons and the planet from which they had harvested them. And that was why she now found herself as a fugitive hiding out in the cargo bay of an illegal transport vessel.

There were, however, a few good things that had come out of her mission on the BSL, she thought as she looked around at the dachoras and little blue etecoons. Had she not rescued them from the labs, the intelligent creatures also would have fallen prey to the X, and having them with her now was the one tiny grain of solace she could find in this disaster. Although there was, perhaps, one other good thing that had come out of it.

Wiping any remaining acidic blood on her breastplate, she reached beside her and picked up a compact, metallic cylinder. It was only a few centimeters thick and so small it fit in the palm of her hand. At the center was a red light, but it was dark for the moment. She had switched it off a while back, needing to clear her thoughts before dealing with what was inside of the device.

Adam Malkovich, her former Commanding Officer and longtime friend. Apparently, the Federation had made a habit of uploading the minds of their military leaders and scientists so that they could still utilize them in the event of their deaths. The thought was sickening and bizarre, and as happy as she had been to be reunited with Adam's mind, it confused her in a lot of ways. It had been years since she had heard her late friend's voice, and discovering his mind lived within the programing of her computerized CO had been like seeing a ghost. And she was not so sure it was a good thing.

While she had her concerns about the Adam program, she had made sure to download it to the compact device she now held before detonating the explosives on the ship she had stolen from the Federation and making a run for it out into Deep Space. Now that she had a few moments of quiet, she figured it was a better time to reflect on how their reunion had come to be, specifically why, out of all the AI systems the Federation could have programmed to be her CO on this mission, they had chosen the one programmed from a person she had actually known in life.

Samus wanted to find the answers to those questions, but they eluded her for the moment as a wave of exhaustion rolled over her and she yawned, exposing her new fangs to the dachora whose red eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Sorry," the mercenary said with a grunt. "Didn't mean to startle you."

She wondered how long these aliens would be her companions now that she found herself on the other side of the law. A former fugitive recovery agent herself, she knew better than anyone else that the bounty hunters of the galaxy were already hot on her trail and anyone she came into contact with was a potential target. But better than anyone else, she also knew how intergalactic bounty hunters operated, and they were going to be in for one hell of a fight if they thought they would be able to apprehend Samus Aran.

Bounty hunters and military manhunts didn't frighten her. She'd stared down death too many times in the past, and with her years of training and experience, she had little doubt in her ability not only to stay out of their grasp, but to find ways to live almost comfortably while doing so. Only one thing gave her pause.

While she had been well known as the most powerful and accomplished bounty hunter in the galaxy during the Space Pirate War, that had been a long time ago now. For the past four and a half years, she had been living an almost quiet life on a planet called Earth. And while it didn't bother her to leave the planet behind, she knew she was not quite the free agent she had once been. Somewhere on that planet, her loving partner and her son were learning of her disappearance and her shift from the most feared warrior in the galaxy to the most wanted criminal in the galaxy. And she was not naïve enough to think that her enemies in the Federation would not find a way to use them against her.

As tempting as it was to blow off the Federation and build a life for herself outside their borders, she knew it was not an option now. Their officials may have stabbed her in the back, but there were still innocent people living within Federation territory, people had once dedicated her life to protecting. And now they included her own small family on Earth.

Even if the Federation didn't go after her family to try to get to her, Samus knew they were not safe. No one was safe now that the Galactic Federation itself was backing bioweapons research and construction. If they would go so far as to revive the Metroids, once believed to be the most dangerous species in the galaxy, there was no telling what other sort of sick experiments they had planned. And it would not be long before they created something they would not be able to control.

 


	2. Chapter 2: Blackacre

_Two weeks earlier_

Earth may not have been the largest or most populous planet in Galactic Federation territory, but it was one of the most heavily protected and treasured for the simple fact that it was where all human life had originated. While humans were by no means the most prolific species in the Federation, they had been essential to its founding and held many key roles in its government. So it was no surprise that humanity's birthplace had always received favorable treatment, particularly during the Space Pirate War, during which the Federation had refused to let it fall at all costs.

But the war had been over for nearly five years now, and despite the quiet peace that had settled through space in its wake, Earth was still a heavily guarded planet. And for any sentient being not of purely human origin, it could be almost impossible to access. Semi-humans, or human-alien hybrids, were very common throughout space. Many were born to parents of different species, but others were genetically enhanced for one reason or another. The origin and particular genetic mixture of anyone not purely human played a large part in whether they could be granted so much as a visa to visit Earth. A lot of people who had lived their whole lives on the planet still feared integrating with beings from other worlds.

That fact had never been lost on Samus Aran, and from the day she had arrived on the planet four and a half years earlier, she knew that she would never be fully accepted by its people. With her muscular build, striking eyes, and long blonde hair, Samus could have been considered very attractive by human standards. At least, she might have been had she lived a more gentle life. Black vein-like markings ran down the right side of her face and continued all over her body under her clothes. Her blue-green eyes, while a brilliant color, were distinctly inhuman, and her fingernails were a dark gray that seemed to shimmer with an iridescent green tinge. Her nails, however, were the least of her worries.

A human by birth, hybrid by design, and mercenary by profession, Samus was a tough-looking woman. There was no hiding her semi-human status from anyone she might meet. Even if her appearance didn't give it away, if she got so much as a paper cut, there would be no way to hide the fact that her blood was highly acidic and could burn through most materials. The only reason she had been granted a visa to visit Earth the first time was because she had a prominent General vouch for her and agree to accompany her to the planet. The only reason she had been allowed to stay and purchase property was because she had finally been able to locate her long-lost birth certificate, proving that she had been a full human at the time of her birth on K-2L, a colony of Earth. Natural born citizens of Earth's colonies had, at that time, automatically been granted citizenship to Earth. That law had changed in the years since the end of the war in response to the growing number of hybrids being born in the colonies.

For once, neither her genetic status nor the Space Pirate War was on Samus's mind as she walked across the grassy hills of what appeared to be a very large estate. She was wearing an old pair of jeans, her favorite leather jacket, and a pair of combat boots as her long blonde hair blew behind her in a gentle breeze. The sun was just starting to set, casting the slightest wisps of golden light over the green hills and the evergreen trees of the surrounding forests. It was a cool autumn evening, and the chill in the air suggested it would drop below freezing before morning. Samus did not seem to care about the cold. She was indifferent to most temperatures that humans could survive and even some that they couldn't

There was only one thing that concerned her, and as she got to the top of one of the hills, she looked down to the small stream flowing on the other side. Halfway down, sitting and watching the sunset, was a very old woman. She looked to be a tall, stately woman wearing a long black coat. Her silver hair was nearly as long as Samus's, and a dark wooden cane rested by her side. As the mercenary approached the woman, she half smiled and took a seat by her side. Together, they sat quietly for a few moments until Samus turned to her companion.

"Morrigan," the mercenary said in her deep voice, "you shouldn't be sitting out here when it's this cold out. You know that's not good for you."

The old woman looked over to Samus and smiled. "I've been coming out here to watch the sunset my entire life. I'm not giving that up now. Besides, I knew you would never let me stay out here long enough to catch my death."

"Hmph." Samus grunted lightly as she unzipped her jacket, took it off, and threw it around the old woman's shoulders. "You better not."

They returned to sitting in silence for a while, just enjoying one another's company. They were on the lands of Blackacre, an estate that had been in Morrigan Sinclaire's family for roughly two hundred years. At ninety-four years old, she rarely left the grounds anymore, but every once in a while she would be pleasantly surprised to find that Samus had come by to visit her. While the estate was not particularly close to the house Samus owned in the Adirondacks, it was less than a day's drive away, and the mercenary had been visiting more frequently now that the summer had ended. Her son was back at school now, and Morrigan knew that aside from the boy, there was very little tying her to Earth. Samus had always had something of a restless spirit, and she had a hard time staying in one place very long, much to the constant frustration of her domestic partner.

"How's Hector doing?" Morrigan asked after a while. She had not seen the boy in months, but Samus had brought him with her a few times over the years. A few years back, Morrigan had sought Samus out for some private security after discovering that the mercenary was her biological granddaughter. It was at that time she had learned of Samus's estranged son, her first great grandchild.

"He's doing good," Samus said with a sad smile. "He's back at school now, so I don't really hear from him like I used to, but I guess that's how it is. He just started his third year of college, so I guess I can't expect that I'm at the forefront of his mind."

Morrigan knew the separation was difficult for Samus, even if the mercenary would not admit to it. She had settled on Earth just over four years ago so that she could be closer to her boy, and he had left for college only two years later. It had been a surprise to the mercenary. Having never been to college or any type of formal schooling, Samus did not have a clear concept of how it worked. She had not even met her son until he was finishing up his sophomore year of high school, having left him with his father since birth to shield him from the violent life she had lived during the Space Pirate War.

"If you miss him, Samus," Morrigan said, placing a hand gently on her forearm, "why not go up to his school and visit?"

Samus shook her head. This question had come up dozens of times, and her answer was always the same. "I don't want to cause any problems. If people see me, they'll know I'm not human, and then they might start to think he's not fully human. He's on the track team. He's got a partial sports scholarship and they'll take that away from him if they think he has any alien genetics."

As it was, Samus was fairly certain the boy had some alien qualities to him, but he had tested fully human, and he looked fully human, so she never pressed the issue. For what few alien traits he may have possessed, it was not worth it to do anything that could change his genetic classification, especially not if he was planning to stay on Earth for the foreseeable future.

Realizing she was not going to get Samus to change her mind, Morrigan decided to change the subject. "Abby Malkovich should be graduating at the end of this school year, yes?"

Staring out at the stream, Samus nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe it. Adam would have been so proud. And Evianna just started her first year. She's training to be a nurse like her mom."

"You did a good job, Samus," the old woman said with a smile. "General Malkovich would have been very grateful for how you've been there for them."

The mercenary looked over to Morrigan and smiled. "Yeah, well, I told him I'd be there for them like they were my own, and I figure after all he did for me, sending his girls to college was the least I could do." After years of taking deadly high-profile missions, Samus had amassed a small fortune of wealth. Sending the three kids through college was not exactly cheap, but she was glad to be able to do it for them. Her missions were nowhere near as dangerous or high paying as they used to be, but she still lived comfortably.

"Damn," Samus said after a minute. "My kid's almost done with college. Makes me feel old…"

"You're not old," Morrigan snapped, lightly slapping her granddaughter on the wrist.

"Hey." Samus raised an eyebrow. "What was that for?"

"You're not old," she repeated, staring reproachfully at the mercenary. "I'm old, so you can't be. Otherwise that means I'm ancient. Besides, you don't look a day older than when I met you, so I don't know what you have to complain about."

It was mostly true. Aside from some slight lines at the corners of her eyes, Samus did not look like she had aged at all in the past five years. Not even her hair had started to show any signs of gray. More importantly, her body did not feel like it had aged either. She had put on a little weight since the war ended, but that only made her look healthier than before. While it was something she tried to avoid thinking about, she had long since suspected that her unique genetic make-up meant she would not age the same way a human would. Then again, if Morrigan was any indication, longevity seemed to run in her human genes as well.

The sun was getting lower and the chill in the air bit at the two women. Night was quickly approaching, and though neither wanted to get up, Samus knew it was time to get the old woman inside the house.

Standing up, the mercenary bent down and extended her hand to her grandmother. "We should head in. It's supposed to drop well below freezing tonight."

Morrigan finally gave in and took her granddaughter's hand. It was a slow process helping the old woman to her feet, but Samus was patient and let her take her time. Once Morrigan was upright, Samus retrieved her cane from the ground and handed it to her. Still, she allowed Morrigan to hold onto her forearm as they walked toward the ornate, black house at the top of the hill.

While she had always been very healthy and physically capable for her age, Morrigan had definitely slowed down in the past few years. It bothered Samus on some level to see the effects of aging on someone she had grown close to. The mercenary had always been all too aware of human mortality, having lost nearly everyone she had ever been close to. But they had all died violent deaths. It was strange to see nature slowly taking its course on a person. That was not to say she thought Morrigan would pass on any time soon. The old woman was still healthy and mobile, but she was slower.

Samus could accept that. She didn't mind slowing her pace or letting Morrigan hold onto her. These days, she wasn't in a rush to get anywhere. As they got into the house, she helped Morrigan into the living room and then headed into the kitchen. As the old woman settled herself in a cozy red chair by the fire, Samus prepared two cups of tea and brought them into the living room to share. She took a seat on the couch, leaning back and enjoying the warmth. Even if the cold didn't hurt her, it was still nice to be inside and warm again.

They sipped their tea quietly for a while, watching the fire. The living room was a dark but warm place, and its formal style was heavily inspired by homes of the Victorian Era. Samus had always thought visiting Blackacre and its quaint little town was like stepping back in time. There were two other occupants of the large house, Morrigan's other granddaughter Maggie and her young son, but they were upstairs in their own area for now.

"I should be going," Samus said after a while. "I promised Elisa I would come home tonight."

Morrigan looked over to her granddaughter. "This was a short visit."

"Yeah," the mercenary agreed reluctantly, setting her teacup and saucer on the dark wooden coffee table. "But I ship out again in a few days."

"Again? But you just got back to Earth last week…"

Samus nodded and stretched as she stood up. "Yeah, Biologic's been calling me out a lot lately. I think they're finally finishing up that space lab they were working on. They want me to help them capture a few live specimens for some of their ecosystems or something."

Morrigan paused, a look of concern on her face. "The way things have been going lately, I have to wonder what that will be used for in the future."

"Yeah…" Samus was not sure what to say. The thought had crossed her mind more than once. Since the Federation Council had repealed parts of the bioweapons research ban, it had put her on edge to accept any kind of mission that involved fauna collection. But those were the sorts of jobs she seemed to get nowadays. There were no more hostile planets threatening the Federation. If anything, lifting the bioweapons ban would mean the Federation was more of a threat to itself. "Not much I can do about that though. It's not like I'm a Council Woman or anything."

"No," Morrigan said slowly, as thought trying to figure out how to phrase what she wanted to say, "but you are a powerful figure. There are ways you could try to get that ban back in place or at least not facilitate anyone trying to bioweapons research."

Samus looked like she had just bitten into something sour, clearly not wanting to take this conversation in the direction it was going. "I have no reason to believe Biologic is doing any weapons research on board. I've been contracting with them since before the ban was lifted, and all I've seen them do is medical research."

Morrigan nodded passively. Though there was more she wanted to say, she didn't want to press the issue right now. "I trust your judgment, Samus. Just do take care of yourself."

The mercenary smiled. "Heh. I'll try to. I know Elisa won't be happy if I go and get myself killed, but this isn't exactly a dangerous job as far as what I do goes. I'm just heading out to SR-388. Now that the Metroids are gone, there's not much there aside from the occasional horntoad."

She drained the remainder of tea from her cup and bent down to hug her grandmother goodbye, planting a quick kiss on her forehead as she did so. It was going to be a long drive back home, but she knew she had to do it tonight. As it was, she had been spending a lot of time away from home lately, and it was not all work related. Elisa had more patience with her restlessness than anyone she had ever known save for Adam Malkovich, but she did not want to push her partner's patience further than she had to. She knew the other woman got lonely when she was away, and she didn't want her to have to spend another night by herself.

Not that Elisa was ever truly alone, Samus thought as she headed out of the house and walked along the long driveway to her hover car. Even when Samus was not around, she still had their dogs to keep her company. But Samus was anxious to get home and see her and the animals again, and she was hoping to get some quality time with them before having to head out again to her next mission on SR-388.

 


	3. Chapter 3: Willow Green

  
Deep in the Adirondack Mountains, there was a small, suburban town called Willow Green that had been the home of the late General Adam Malkovich. His family still owned a small home on one of the more populated streets in the area, and though both of his daughters had gone away to college, his wife still lived in their house. Not far from where they lived, a man named Jack Fields lived in a basic but well kept little home not much different than the Malkovichs'. He was also an empty nester, his son away at college with the Malkovich girls.

On the outskirts of the town, however, there was a house much larger than the other two. Set back a long way from the quiet road, the house sat on a big piece of land, its façade hidden from the road by a patch of evergreen trees that blended into the surrounding forest. Though the property appeared to lack any kind of fence, the thick trees around the perimeter gave it more than enough privacy, and for anyone looking to trespass, there was an invisible force field that not only surrounded the land, but also protected it from above in a dome-like manner.

The house itself was a blue Dutch Colonial with a gray roof. Large windows lined the first and second stories of the house, each one with its own bright white shutters. On the ground level, a large bay window looked into what would be the home's dining room, and clean red bricks made up the foundation and set of steps leading up to the front porch. The landscaping was modest but neat, and the old house looked like it might have belonged on a post card. The only things that were odd about the otherwise unremarkable home were its occupants.

Officer Elisa Rodriguez worked for the Willow Green Police Department. She was a petite Latina woman with dark hair that fell past her shoulders in loose waves. Her skin was a soft golden tan, and she had large brown eyes. She was an obviously human woman without the slightest hint of extra-terrestrial traits, but her right arm was fully robotic, the result of an accident she had been in as a child. It matched the rest of her body so well, however, that one might not notice it at first glance.

On this particular afternoon, she was dressed in a loose black skirt that fell to her ankles and a form-fitting red blouse that accented her curvy but athletic form. It was one of her days off for the week, and she was enjoying it curled up on the white leather couch that ran in an "L" shape along the back corner of the living room. Light flooded in from the dining room's bay window and the other windows throughout the open floor plan. Elisa sat quietly, reading a novel on her tablet and eating an apple as a small white dog curled up at her feet.

Though the morning had long since ended, Elisa was patiently waiting for her partner to wake up. After staying up late waiting for her to get in the night before, Elisa had gotten tired of waiting and went to bed without seeing her. She knew if anything were wrong, the other woman would call her, but everything must have been all right because when she woke up in the morning, Elisa found the tall, blonde woman beside her in their bed. It was not the first time Samus had come home later than she had claimed she would, and it definitely was not the first time she had slept half of the day away. Elisa had gotten used to these things by now.

The house and property had both belonged to Samus when the officer had moved down to Willow Green three years ago after transferring from the police department in Rosewood. She and the mercenary had been seeing each other for a year and a half before that, but it had been hard to maintain a relationship with the way both of their jobs were. The house and property were both in Elisa's name now for safekeeping. Although she and Samus often presented themselves as married, the union was not legally recognized. In part, it protected Elisa from being legally bound to someone with as many enemies as Samus Aran, but it was also still illegal for them to marry on Earth because Samus was not considered to be a pure enough human. The amount of genetic modifications the mercenary had received over the years legally put her almost completely into the category of a non-human humanoid species. But as far as anyone else in the town knew, Elisa was married to "Rhonda Sinclaire", an alias Samus had adopted years ago when she had first come to the planet, and "Rhonda" was simply more human than she looked, only having received light genetic modifications to help combat a chronic illness. The black markings and unusual eye color were simply side effects of that treatment. At least, that's what they told people.

Despite that, Samus rarely left the property when she was in town. Though she had taken ample precautions to obscure her identity over the years, she always worried about people figuring out who she was. And though the mercenary would never admit it, Elisa knew she hated the way people looked at her. The officer was certain people did not stare nearly as much as Samus seemed to think they did, but the mercenary was very self-conscious about her scars and markings. She had also become considerably more withdrawn after the death of her long-time friend, Adam Malkovich. That was why even though Elisa hated when her partner would go out of town, she actually encouraged her to go visit Morrigan when she was not working. Becoming a hermit simply was not a healthy option.

Elisa was thinking about preparing lunch when her watch suddenly began to beep. Tapping it, she saw there was someone at the front of the property. A woman roughly Elisa's age was at the intercom on the other side of the force field requesting entrance. Normally, the officer would have ignored such a visitor, but she noticed the woman was dressed in the formal uniform of a Federation Army Colonel. Reluctantly, Elisa temporarily disabled the force field in the section to give the woman entrance.

She had her suspicions why the army official was paying them a visit, and she knew Samus would not be happy about it when she found out. These sorts of visits were becoming more common lately, as though the Federation were sending people by just to let the mercenary know they knew where she lived. While the people in town might not have known Samus's identity, there was a sector of the government that did not want her to forget that they knew exactly who she was and exactly where to find her.

Elisa sent a quick text to Samus and slipped on a pair of sandals as she went to answer the door. As the Colonel stepped inside, Elisa looked her over. She was a tall woman, not as tall as Samus but taller than Elisa, and she had ashy brown hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her brown uniform was clean and well pressed, fitting perfectly over her stocky form. She had sharp brown eyes, but they lacked any depth to them.

"Good afternoon, Colonel," Elisa said, closing the door behind them. "How can I help you?"

The woman looked over the simple living room, dining room and kitchen as though scrutinizing every last detail. "Is Samus Aran at home?"

"I sent her a message, although I don't know what she's engaged in at the moment." Elisa instinctively didn't like the woman, and she wanted to get her out of the house as quickly as possible, but she doubted the Colonel would be leaving anytime soon. "Can I interest you in any coffee or tea perhaps?"

The woman's face was expressionless as she shook her head. "I'm Colonel Janet Maroney of the Galactic Federation Army, and I'm here on official business. I need to speak with the mercenary Samus Aran."

Elisa held back a groan and struggled to keep her tone pleasant. "What is this visit in regard to?"

Maroney glared at Elisa as she stepped further into the house and began looking around. "The investigation into the death of General Adam Malkovich."

Elisa had to bite her tongue to avoid lashing out at the Colonel as the woman wandered into their kitchen and began picking up and inspecting implements. She really wanted to throw her out of the house and demand she not come back, but she also knew better than to cause any more problems for Samus.

Elisa was about to say something when she was cut off by a deep voice coming from the stairwell.

"What do you need to know?" Samus asked as she appeared silently the stairs, her eyes trained on Maroney like a hawk.

The Colonel looked slightly taken back by the sudden appearance of the mercenary. Though she had heard of Samus Aran and seen her records on numerous occasions, she had not been prepared to meet the woman herself. Though she was only dressed in a pair of jeans and a faded Fleetwood Mac tee shirt, she had an otherworldly look about her. Her cold eyes were a mixture of green and blue, and they regarded Maroney as though she were prey. Her movements were silent as a hunter's as she came upon them, and at six-foot-three, her muscular form was imposing. Though her tone and words were polite, everything about Samus's demeanor and mannerisms screamed that she wanted the intruder to leave.

Refusing to show her intimidation, Maroney stood up to her full height and regarded the inhuman mercenary. "I'm following up on the investigation of the General's death."

Samus stared at her, deadpan. "You said that already."

"In two years since the incident, the Federation still does not have the full picture of precisely what transpired during the events of his death, and you were the last person known to have contact with him."

The mercenary frowned as her glare intensified. "I was already tried. I was acquitted on all charges. Everything I have to say on the matter is already on the record. If you need to know anything else, you can take it up with my lawyer because I'm not obligated to speak to you."

"Ms. Aran," Maroney said, her tone dripping acid as the mercenary's hostility set her on the defense, "I do not think it is in your best interest to do anything that may cause the Council to question your allegiance to the Federation."

"I don't think my allegiance is any of your concern," Samus replied. "But if you're going to bring that up, I'll simply direct you to my record of service in the employment of the Federation during the Space Pirate War. As for the death of General Malkovich, that case was settled two years ago, and if you're going to investigate anyone, I suggest you look to the Space Development Corporation or their parent company, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. They were the ones in breach of the Federation Bioweapons Act when it was still on the books."

"Disciplinary action has already been taken on Weyland-Yutani, and its subsidiary has been dissolved," Maroney replied, taking another look around Samus's kitchen but beginning to make her way back to the front door. She stopped in surprise when she bumped into something and looked down to see a giant brown dog staring intently at her. It looked like some kind of Shepard mix and like it would easily be taller than her if it got up on two legs.

Samus ignored the woman's surprise at the sudden stealthy appearance of the wolfy dog. "Maybe it's about time Weyland-Yutani got dissolved too. Either way, I've already said all I needed to on the issue. Your courts found me innocent. I didn't kill General Malkovich. I would never have even dreamed of making an attempt on his life, unlike Secretary of Defense Harper."

Maroney grunted as she looked back at Samus, sidestepping the massive dog as she made her way closer to the door. "That's a baseless accusation you're making against Secretary Harper. Again, Aran, you don't want anyone calling your allegiance to the Federation into question. No evidence was ever found tying Secretary Harper to the LV-426 incident except what the conspiracy nuts dreamed up."

Only because the key witness mysteriously died, Samus thought to herself, but she didn't say anything out loud. Maroney was right about one thing; Samus really did not need anyone formally bringing her loyalty to the Federation into question. Especially because that loyalty seemed to be decreasing day by day.

"Is there anything else I can help you with, Colonel?" Samus asked, keeping her tone as even as she could. "Anything I don't need a lawyer present for?"

Maroney returned her glare and matched her cool tone. "Not for now. But when you are ready to talk, I suggest you do. You've been out of the public eye for a long time now, Aran, and people are starting to talk."

"I'm a mercenary," Samus said, walking over to the front door and opening it. "Unless there's a war going on and the Federation wants to hire me, I have no reason to interact with them. If people want to talk about that, let them. I've given more to the Federation and the galaxy than the vast majority of its citizens. Now I'm living my own life."

The Colonel very gladly took the opportunity to walk out the door, but she paused for a moment to look back at the mercenary. "The courts might have cleared you, but the Federation won't stop. There was no reason for the General to have died and you to have lived."

Samus closed the door on the Colonel and promptly locked it. She could feel her temper starting to heat up again, and she knew better than to fool around with that. From her watch, she pulled up a holoscreen and watched the Colonel walk away until she was off the property and on the other side of the force field. Then Samus reactivated the force field and went to go sit on the couch. Elisa quietly followed her, taking a seat next to where the mercenary sat with her head in her hands, rubbing her temples.

"I'm sorry you had to wake up to that," Elisa said as the big wolfy dog walked over to sit beside Samus. The little white dog returned to curl up in Elisa's lap as she gently touched the mercenary's back. "She came without warning."

Samus just shook her head. "She was right though. There was no reason he should have died and I should have lived. It should have been the other way around."

Elisa frowned. "Don't say that."

"It's true though," Samus said, looking up at her partner. "The courts might have found me innocent, but I did kill Adam Malkovich."

"Samus, we're not doing this again." Elisa's voice was firm as she stared at the mercenary. "Adam sacrificed himself to protect you. Because the galaxy needed you. He made that choice."

"He made the wrong one," Samus muttered as the big dog pushed his snout into her lap and she began subconsciously petting him. "What have I done for the galaxy since then? Collected bug samples for Biologic? There are no more Space Pirates. There's no more Phazon. The problem is inside the Federation now, and there's nothing I can do about that… but he could have."

"That doesn't mean you killed him though."

"I know." Samus looked down at the wolfy dog, and he stared back up at her with intelligent brown eyes. "It's just… people around me die. A lot."

Samus did not need to elaborate. Elisa knew exactly what she meant, and now that September was almost over, she would be feeling it more than usual. October 1st would be the thirty-fifth anniversary of the K-2L Massacre, something the media would not let them ignore since it had become a sort of rallying occasion to unify people in favor of the Federation. It had been one of the worst Space Pirate raids in the early days of the war, and it was the massacre that had left Samus orphaned at a young age and set her on her path to becoming the warrior she was now. It was not unusual for the mercenary to become more restless and have a shorter temper around this time of year.

Elisa cuddled up closer to her partner and put her arms around her even though Samus did not react to the contact. "Well, I'm happy you survived. That doesn't mean I don't wish General Malkovich were still alive, but I'm still grateful I have you. And I know the animals are happy you're here as well."

Samus smirked as she glanced down at the giant dog. With a bit of gray showing around his muzzle now, Archer was the dog who had been with her the longest, but there were several others now. The tiny white Maltese, Flossie, snuggled into Elisa's lap, and Samus suspected the others were outside.

There had been a mysterious series of break-ins at the local animal shelter in recent years, and animals that had been scheduled to be put to sleep had ended up disappearing. Elisa had casually pointed out on occasion that every time one of the shelter animals went missing, a new one would show up on their property that just so happened to match the description of the one that was lost. Samus, of course, never had any idea what her partner was talking about and insisted that the animals had simply wandered onto their land by chance. Despite the military-grade force field.

Elisa loved her partner dearly, but she also knew she could be a handful. In their yard at the moment, there was a husky mix with an anxiety disorder named "Rhiannon", a surprisingly athletic three-legged pitbull named "Champion", and even a mini-horse named "L'il Sebastian", all of whom had "mysteriously appeared" on their property. The animals made Samus happy though, and Elisa thought the mercenary communicated with them in ways she couldn't with humans, so she had never questioned the mysterious appearances.

She held Samus quietly for a few more moments before she kissed her partner on the cheek and pulled away. "Before Maroney got here, I had just been thinking about making lunch."

Samus looked intrigued as she looked up at Elisa. "Yeah? What did you have in mind?"

Elisa shrugged as she stood up. "Not in the mood for anything fancy. You've been out of town for a while so I haven't had many groceries… I was thinking we could spend the day at home and have some of those little frozen pizza roles?"

Samus smiled. "I'd like that very much."


	4. Chapter 4: Return to SR-388

"You know I don't generally like to comment on the missions you take, but there's something about this one that's really bothering me." Elisa stood in the doorway and watched as her partner dressed and readied herself to head back into space. The bounty hunter had not been at home nearly long enough, in Elisa's opinion, and she hated to see her go.

Samus looked over to the other woman as she sat down on their bed and pulled on one of her blue boots. "You know I have to do this."

Elisa sighed as she walked into their bedroom and sat heavily on the bed beside her partner. It was not a large room, but it was cozy. The floor and most of the walls were all natural wood. The only wall that was different was the all brick wall against which their bed rested. There were a few green rugs that went well with their charcoal comforter, and Elisa had always liked to think the room felt like it could have been part of a secluded cabin in the woods.

"That's just the thing though," the officer said as the mercenary pulled on her other boot, "you don't have to do this anymore. We have enough money. You're not opposing a galactic threat. You don't have to take jobs anymore. You could settle down here for real, and I could know that you were… safe."

She said the last word knowing that Samus did not want to hear it. It had become a point of contempt between them in recent years. The Federation was loosening its ethics policies in regard to bioweapons, and Earth's government was making it harder for non-human entities to travel into and out of its atmosphere. Samus had been falling steadily out of favor with the Federation ever since Keaton had left his position as its Chairman, and she had quite a few enemies in the current regime. Elisa worried about the jobs she contracted for these days, even if they were mostly with private companies instead of the government.

The mercenary looked at her partner, her expression unreadable. She was dressed in her dark blue jumpsuit that she normally donned under her powersuit, but her long blonde hair was still down. "I need to take this mission, Elisa. They're asking me to accompany them to SR-388, and I'm the only one who knows how to navigate that planet."

"I know." Elisa sighed. "That's part of what concerns me. That's the planet where you exterminated the Metroids. I know Biologic mostly does medical research, but with the repeal of the weapons ban…"

"I know." Samus regarded her partner very seriously, sitting up to her full height. "That's why I have to do this. It's too much of a coincidence that they're showing interest in SR-388 now that the ban was repealed but they never did before. If there's anything going on there, particularly anything Metroid-related, I can't let that happen. The Federation would be foolish to try to propagate Metroids, and if you had told me five years ago that they would try something so stupid, I wouldn't have believed it. But now…" Her voice trailed off as she shook her head. "I can't let that happen."

Elisa didn't say anything as she just reached for Samus's hand and wrapped her own around it. They sat like that for a long time in silence before Elisa finally spoke.

"If those experiments are being commissioned by the Federation, what you're talking about is treason."

Samus nodded. "We've been over what to do. All of the assets are in your name. Hector's father is the executor of his trust fund. There's no documentation tying me to the boy. If it comes down to that, hopefully they just come after me and leave both of you out of it."

"If it comes down to that," Elisa said firmly, "I don't want to be left out of it. I'm not going to sit idly by while you get prosecuted."

The bounty hunter looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she stood up and walked over to the dresser mirror. Pulling a hairband from her wrist, she combed her fingers through her hair a few times and tied it up into a high ponytail. Elisa knew that was the bounty hunter's unofficial signal that she had switched into her work mode and did not want to continue their discussion.

The officer just sat on the bed as she watched the mercenary. Through the years they had known one another, she had seen her survive some extremely brutal missions, and once she recovered and it came time for her next one, she would always respond as calmly and mechanically as if she were being called for a regular nine-to-five job. She did not know how the bounty hunter did that, time after time. For Elisa, each time Samus was called away, there was always a part of her that feared it would be the last time, and now that feeling was stronger than usual.

She was surprised when she found herself walking up behind Samus and throwing her arms around the mercenary's waist as she pressed her face into Samus's muscular back. Samus also seemed surprised at first even though she had seen Elisa approaching in the mirror. Not realizing how tense she had been, Samus relaxed in her lover's embrace and put her hands over the other woman's as they stood for a while, content for the moment simply to be together. They did not know when they would get that chance again.

"I'll never get used to this," Elisa said softly as she closed her eyes and savored the feel of her lover in her arms.

"It comes with the territory," Samus replied, not meaning to sound as cold as she came across.

"I knew what I signed up for when I got involved with you," the officer said, holding Samus a little more firmly. "But just because I love you doesn't mean I have to love every aspect of what you do. Just do me a favor and come home safe."

Samus smiled as she turned around and kissed her lover's forehead. "Noted. I'll do what I can."

* * *

 

_"Samus?" The General turned around and looked at the heavily armored form walking toward him down the corridor. The metallic sound of her heavy steps echoed throughout the deserted ship._

_It was dark onboard the derelict research vessel, and this far out in space, there likely would not be anyone else for light-years. Everything from the walls to the floor was cast in an austere blue steel, and as the mercenary approached the General, she noticed he was standing before a door sealed with a heavy blast shield._

_"How did you get here?" the General demanded, staring at her through the visor of his helmet. He was wearing a standard dark blue armored suit and carrying a high-powered pulse rifle, but he was alone._

_"I should be asking you that," Samus replied. "What are you doing this far out into space alone, Adam?"_

_"That's classified information. The Federation—"_

_"The Federation doesn't know you're here," Samus finished for him, coming closer to inspect the blast shield on the door. "I followed you. If the Federation had sent you here, they would have sent back-up."_

_Adam regarded Samus quietly for a moment. "You shouldn't be here, Samus. This doesn't concern you."_

_"Like hell it doesn't." Her sharp eyes glared at him through her green visor, the vein-like black markings evident on her face. "This is a deep space research facility owned by one of those Weyland-Yutani subsidiaries. You wouldn't be out here unless you suspected they were doing something with bioweapons research. And you wouldn't be alone unless you thought the Federation were somehow in on it."_

_The General looked over to the blast shield once more and then turned back to Samus. "I have reason to believe a sect within the Federation appropriated a report I did a while back on the dangers and ethical transgressions of engineering sentient bioweapons. I don't know what happened on board this ship, but I received intel that it had recently gone dark. For some time now, there have been no signals broadcast from here, and it appears to have been deleted from a lot of records. I would not have noticed it if it were not for the fact that I saw they had received transmissions of my bioweapons reports."_

_Samus took a moment and processed what he said. "Do you know what kind of bioweapons they're building?" A ripple of cold suddenly shot through her body as she imagined a few species they might have selected._

_Adam shook his head. "I don't know. But I followed through and broke into a series of sealed files that referenced something called the 'Zero Host Project.'"_

_"Zero Host?" Samus stared at him skeptically. "What does that even mean?"_

_"I don't know. But there's some connection between it and this ship. My theory is that the Zero Host is some kind of prototype and it might even be somewhere on this vessel. It could be responsible for whatever took out the crew and led to this ship's erasure from all of the records."_

_The mercenary raised an eyebrow. "And you were going to go after this thing alone? Do you have a death wish or something?"_

_Adam grunted as he turned back to the door. The shield was so strong that nothing short of a missile blast would have been able to get through it. "Samus, get out of here. There's no reason for both of us to endanger our lives. If Zero Host is based on a report I submitted, then it's my responsibility to take it out."_

_"Heh." Samus half-smiled as she looked at his pulse rifle again and shook her head. "I thought being a reckless lone wolf was my gig and you were supposed to be the level-headed one. But anyway, fine. If you can get through that door without my help, I'll let you handle this one alone. Otherwise, I'm coming with you."_

_The General sighed as he stared at his rifle in defeat._

Samus did not know why her mind was flashing back to that encounter now as she traversed the nearly barren surface of SR-388. Behind her, two Biological scientists, dressed in full biohazard protection suits, followed her as the small group walked across the rocky desert. There was nothing around for miles except a few rock formations. The planet might have been very pretty with its various gorges with their brick red and brown facades. Above, the sky was a brilliant mix of yellow and purple that Samus had never seen on any other planet she had visited.

But the bounty hunter could not appreciate the planet's natural beauty. It had been over half a decade since her battle here against the Metroids, but it had not changed and she had not forgotten it. They had not come across any of the native creatures yet, and while Samus did not think any of them would be a threat to her, she felt a strange sense of foreboding nonetheless. However, she simply chalked it up to her memories of the Metroids and her uneasiness about Biologic's motives for coming here.

"Samus," one of the scientists called from behind her. "We should go down and check out that cave over there."

The bounty hunter turned and nodded. "Got it." Without a second thought, she changed course and led them into the mouth of one of SR-388's many caverns. That was where most of the organisms would be, deep underground in the labyrinth of tunnels she had once known by heart.

As they left the surface and headed down into the damp darkness, her mind returned to that last encounter with Adam. It had only been two years ago, but it felt like a lifetime already. Nonetheless, his loss was still a fresh wound and she found it exhausting to think or talk about what had happened or his absurd decision to save her life over his own. True to her word, she had accompanied him into the derelict vessel when he found his own rifle inadequate to open the door, and just as he had predicted, they found a station filled with bioengineered, weaponized life forms.

But even when all was said and done, after her arrest and trial, there was still one thing that had never sat right with her. They had found a plethora of biological perversions, but she had not stumbled across a single data log or any other piece of information regarding the project he had referred to as "Zero Host." Even in the years that followed, none of her searching had yielded any data on what Zero Host meant or what it might have been referring to, and that frustrated her beyond words. She had never gotten her closure with that.

Spying something ahead, Samus raised her left arm to the scientists and stopped in her tracks. "Hold up!"

As they stopped behind her, she walked forward to the creature ahead. She was familiar with its species, a mere Horntoad with its pink spiky body and muscular legs. It looked like some kind of evil frog monster, and while she knew its threat level was low to her, it could be deadly to the unarmed scientists.

"Species is a Horntoad," Samus called out to them as she eyed the creature. "Non-sentient. Not much of a threat by my standards, but I don't think you boys really want to deal with these. They can get nasty. Want me to take care of it?"

"Affirmative, Samus," the researcher called out to her. "Terminate the subject."

He didn't have to tell her twice. In the blink of an eye, Samus fired off a missile from her arm cannon, but the creature saw it coming and leapt into the air. Not missing a beat, Samus simply aimed again and shot the creature dead midair. As it exploded, she expected to see its lifeless body tumble to the ground, but it was as though pieces of it merely fell away. Where the Horntoad had once been, a yellow gelatinous blob floated in the air. Samus had no idea what the curious mass was, but something instinctual told her it was a threat.

However, as she fired two more missiles at the blob, they seemed to go straight through it. Before she knew it, the gelatinous form was rushed at her full speed, and though she tried to shoot it down, it slammed into her and seemed to disappear on contact. In fact, she had not even felt it hit her at all, and as she looked herself over, the only thing she could think was that either her suit had absorbed it or she was hallucinating.

"You guys saw that thing, right?" Samus said, turning to the scientists once more.

"Affirmative," the second researcher called back. "What was that?"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "Don't know. Never seen anything like it before. It's like my suit's shielding must have vaporized it or something."

"How curious," the first research said, looking her powersuit up and down.

"Doesn't matter now," Samus said, turning back to lead them deeper into the cavern. Her energy tanks had not even taken a hit and her weapons were all still online. Hostile or not, the little yellow blob seemed more or less harmless and Samus wondered if her apprehension about it had just been her anxiety about SR-388 playing tricks on her mind.

The small group continued for several more hours, pausing occasionally to collect samples of the mossy flora that grew on the jagged stones deep in the labyrinth. It was boring work as far as Samus was concerned, but it was easy money so she didn't mind doing it. They did not encounter any more hostile organisms for the rest of the expedition, which Samus attributed to the earlier sounds of explosions and the way the steps of her heavy boots echoed through the caverns.

"That's enough for today," one of the researchers called out after a while. "We've got all we need for now. Let's head back to the ship so we can transport it to the Space Labs."

"Got it," Samus said, surprised that she felt suddenly relieved at his decision to end the mission. She was feeling unusually fatigued and suddenly very thirsty.

 _You've got to be kidding me, Aran,_ she thought to herself as she led them out of the cave, noting that her limbs were feeling unusually heavy. _All those years on Earth are making you soft. If this little trip tired you out, you'd never survive half the battles you used to be able to fight._

She gave no outward indication of her fatigue aside from a frustrated grunt. One of the things she had always feared about scaling back her mercenary work was that she would end up letting herself fall out of shape, and she decided the first thing she was going to do once she got back to Earth was get herself a gym membership and start seriously training again.

It was a relief when they came to their separate ships and parted ways. As always, Samus was happy to see her golden ship hovering right where she had left it. Effortlessly, she jumped to the top of it and lowered herself down into the medical bay. As she was heading toward the cockpit, however, she experienced a sudden wave of weakness in her legs and had to grasp at a doorframe to keep herself from falling over.

 _Odd_ , she thought as she stood up straight and continued toward the cockpit. She noticed that her leg muscles were trembling with weakness and exhaustion. She knew the gravity on SR-388 was stronger than on Earth, but there was no reason it should have taken this much out of her. Especially not while she was wearing the power suit. Taking it personally, she mentally chastised herself for being weak, hot embarrassment flooding through her as she was just glad no one had been around to see her stumble.

As she sat down heavily in her pilot's chair, the controls illuminated and the engine quietly roared to life. As she had done thousands of times, she took off and headed out of the planet's atmosphere. She would follow the Biologic Space Labs for a while and observe it as they headed to the next planet they wanted to explore.

But Samus found herself becoming more tired as she piloted the ship, and a sharp headache suddenly struck her, hurting most behind her eyes as her vision blurred. It felt like daggers stabbing through her temples as she tried to reach for her communication device and call the nearby station for assistance, but she found herself unable to move her arm properly, and try as she might, she could not reach the communicator. She tried to speak, but the sounds she made were broken and sounded more like Chozo words than human ones.

Suddenly, her whole body seized up as her eyes rolled back into her head. Samus's entire body went into a violent convulsion as her limbs went slack and dangled uselessly at her sides. As she lost consciousness, the ship veered off course, heading straight for a cluster of asteroids.


	5. Chapter 5: A Metroid Fusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's note: I spent way too long thinking about the legal ramifications of Samus being infected with the X parasite on a mission for Biologic. There were so many questions surrounding it. Are they less liable because she assumed the risk of a mission on an uncharted planet? Would they bother fighting a lawsuit if she brought one or would they want to settle out of court to avoid bad PR? Does the fact that she is an independent contractor change how they might respond to the situation? 
> 
> There's no way of knowing Galactic Federation law surrounding personal injury suits. And now I'm hearing the "item found" music playing as it says "You have obtained the Liability Suit!" Worst. Power-up. Ever.

Chapter 5: A Metroid Fusion

 

Samus was aware of people’s voices, but they sounded like they were underwater. She could feel sharp pains behind her eyes, but she could not open them, and her whole body felt like she had just taken a heavy beating. Her skin burned, and there was a sour metallic taste in her mouth from what she could only assume was her own acidic blood. It was not unusual for her to wake up somewhat disoriented, a result of repeated head trauma and the hardware installed in her brain to operate the powersuit, but she had no idea where she was or what had happened. All she knew was that she was in pain and sick to her stomach.

Once the paralysis began to subside, she found herself able to open her eyes slightly, but a bright light blinded her and intensified the pain in her head as soon as she did. She closed them again quickly, a small sound escaping her throat as she did so. The voices quieted down, but one still spoke, distinguishing itself from the crowd. It took a long time before Samus could make out what the voice was saying, but she could tell it was a man repeating the same thing.

“Samus?”

She recognized her name but not the voice that had said it. There were still no clues to where she was or what had happened.

“Samus Aran? Can you hear me?”

Another sound escaped her throat, an attempt at acknowledgment that had fallen short. Her throat burned terribly, and she could not get herself to form words.

“Let the record show that the patient had begun to show signs of consciousness.”

 _Patient?_ she wondered. She must have been in a hospital of some kind. _What happened? Was I on a mission?_

The last question seemed to answer itself as she realized she could still feel her powersuit materialized around her body. Something felt off, but then again she felt like she had been hit by a sheegoth stampede.

 _I’m going to go out on a limb,_ she mused as her thoughts became more coherent, _and guess that I was injured on a misson._

But what mission? She could not recall, and when she tried to, it only made the pain in her head worse. After a while, however, she noticed that someone had turned off the blinding light over her face, and she slowly opened her eyes once more.

It took a few moments for her vision to focus. She was in a small room with sterile-looking white walls. As things came into view, she could see three people standing over her, all wearing white biohazard suits and staring down at her. It felt like she was some kind of lab specimen, and she wished she had the strength to stand up and bolt out of the room. Hospitals always made her uncomfortable. As they looked at her, she tried to speak again, but all she could manage were a few broken bird-like noises.

“Samus Aran,” the male voice spoke again, “You are in the intensive care section of the infirmary on Federation ship G.F.S. Arcadia. You were transported here because your ship crashed into an asteroid belt after you ejected from it. You had recently left planet SR-388, where you had been infected by a previously unknown parasite, and you fell into a coma.”

Samus stared up at the figure clad in the biohazard suit. She was not sure if he was a doctor or some other type of official, but his beside manner was certainly lacking. His shrill voice had spouted off facts faster than her addled brain could process them, and it was making her headache worse just trying to follow along with him. After a while, she began to remember that she had been on a mission on SR-388. She had been working with Biologic again. She tried to remember an encounter with a parasite or unknown organism but kept coming up blank.

Feeling herself gaining a bit of control over her limbs and extremities, she tried to sit up, but her body felt extremely heavy. When they realized what she was trying to do, one of the scientists pressed a button that raised part of the table she was on so she was now sitting in an upright position.

“I don’t advise moving,” a female voice called from the form that had moved the table. “You’re still very weak from the infection.”

Samus looked over to the woman, wishing she had the ability to speak, but she knew if she tried again, it would only be more broken Chozo words. Then something unusual caught her eye.

As she looked down at her body, she thought her heart would stop. She was still in her power suit, but large pieces of it were missing. It looked as though the entire outer layer of the armor had been cut away, stripping it down to the yellow under-layer or even farther in some areas. There were a few spots where they had cut so deep, her skin was exposed, and she felt her breathing quicken.

 _What the hell happened?_ She wished she could shout at them and demand answers, but she couldn’t force out more than a weak gagging noise as she surveyed the damage done to her suit. She had experienced armor breaches before, but never had more than half of the suit been cut away with what appeared to be surgical precision. Even her arm cannon was missing large parts of it.

Then she noticed something else. Everywhere the doctors had cut into her and stripped away pieces of her armor, there appeared to be a strange blue substance forming around the cuts. It were as though the suit itself knew it was injured and was trying to scar over, but Samus did not recognize the organic blue matter. Something told her, however, that it was going to spread over most of her body at this point. There was something familiar about the texture, but she could not put her finger on what it was.

Warnings tried to flash on her HUD, but they were full of static and fizzled out quickly. The suit’s energy shielding was at zero, and it would not even display her vitals properly. From what she could tell, none of the weapons systems were intact, and even if the shielding ever did manage to come back online, she doubted it would be at more than ten percent capacity.

“The biological components of your suit,” the man’s voice said as he noticed her staring at her destroyed armor, “were integrated so deeply with your central nervous system that it was impossible to remove the suit while you were unconscious, and the parasite was spreading through it. We thought removal of the infected pieces would be your only chance at survival, so we cut off most of the armor. We transported the pieces to the B.S.L. station for study.”

Samus could feel hot rage building up in her and hatred directed to the man who spoke so casually of cutting up the suit that was a part of her body. They had taken away the pieces of her suit, the pieces of her, without her permission. It was a slap in the face after being dissected like a dead frog to learn they had harvested pieces of her for study, no doubt for some bioweapon project.

Samus could feel the words forming in her mouth as her rage overpowered her paralysis.

“F… fuck… you,” she managed to spit out. Her voice was weak and lacked the impact she had hoped for, but her glare got the message across, even through the translucent visor.

He stared at her for a moment. “You should be more grateful to this team for saving your life. Had the Arcadia not responded to Biologic’s distress signal, you surely would have died.”

Samus looked at the stripped down armor of her left hand as the blue organic layer continued to grow. “You… mutilated me…”

“You seem to be missing the part where you’re still alive.”

Samus continued to glare at the man in the biohazard suit. She was completely defenseless, stripped of all weapons, wearing less armor than a GF trooper, and too weak to sit up on her own, but there was still something intimidating about the way she stared him down.

“There’s more, Ms. Aran,” the woman who had raised the table said. Her voice was softer, and Samus felt less animosity toward her. “While cutting off the infected pieces of your armor slowed down the spread of the infection, it didn’t stop it. We were only able to save you through the use of an experimental treatment. We made a sort of vaccine from the cells of another species from SR-388.”

Samus looked at the woman, her blood suddenly going cold as she realized where this was going. “What species?”

“Well,” the woman continued nervously, “we know this parasite, X, was not present on your last trip to SR-388 when you exterminated the Metroids. So someone had a theory that maybe Metroids were its natural predators and that’s why it’s only just appearing now that they are gone. So we still had access to a cell culture from the last Metroid that you rescued five years ago before the Space Pirates took it back. And we used that—”

“You injected me with Metroid cells?” Samus asked. The bounty hunter looked down at her hand again, finally realizing where she recognized the blue substance from. It was very similar in texture to the durable but gelatinous looking layers that protected a Metroid’s nuclei. It was in that moment that she realized what was happening.

When the Chozo had engineered her, they had left a certain instability to her genetic coding that allowed her to adapt to different circumstances by taking the genetic material of other species and integrating it into her own. She had learned this years ago on a moon called LV-426 when she had become impregnated with the larva of a xenomorph species, and instead of being a proper host and letting it grow within her, her body had broken it down and absorbed its properties. It was the reason her body was covered in the vein-like black markings and she bled a concentrated form of acid.

“The manner in which you were saved is irrelevant,” the man said as he ignored Samus’s shock at learning that not only did live Metroid cell cultures still exist, but that she had been injected with one. She was instantly suspicious that a ship was in the area that just so happened to be carrying Metroid cell cultures, but she didn’t say anything as the man continued speaking. “What’s important is that you are alive. Biologic is footing the bill for your treatment, and we can discuss the matter of the insurance policy on your destroyed ship later. Biologic has attorneys on retainer for when you’re ready to discuss whatever you require for sustaining an on-the-job injury, and I’m certain they’re looking to settle this matter out of court.”

Samus stared at the man again. Given everything else going on, suing Biologic for a work-related accident was the farthest thing from her mind.

“I want the pieces of my suit,” the mercenary said. “I can repair it myself, but I need the pieces.” She was not actually sure if she could repair it, but she did not want them to be in possession of any of it. She had had enough experiences with militant groups trying to reverse engineer her technology in the past.

“That’s not possible at this time,” he replied, and her lack of ability to see his face through the white biohazard suit was starting to get under her skin. “They are in the quarantine bay of the B.S.L., currently infested with the same X parasite that almost killed you. Until that can be cleared, they will remain under strict lock down protocols. Then we will see whether or not we can arrange to return them to you.”

Samus had to suppress the urge to shout. “Why would there be any question about that? They’re mine.”

“Well,” the man continued, “previously they were believed to be a part of your ‘body’ according to your records since they could not be removed. However, now that they have been separated from you, they are no longer a part of your body and are legally considered weapons, and no licensing exists that permits the possession of such unique weapons. The military will likely object to handing them over to a civilian.”

“Civilian?” Samus spat the word with disgust. “Do you have any idea who I am? What I’ve done for the Federation?”

“Yes… but there’s no precedent for acknowledging bounty hunters as any type of… formal position. There are, however, guidelines when it comes to weapons licensing for individuals who have been suspects in the murder of prominent Federation officials.”

“I was acquitted on all charges, so don’t try some kind of underhanded legal loophole. That suit is mine. Even if I don’t have a ‘license’, it is registered to me.”

“If you insist on pressing this issue, we can always leave it to the courts to determine, but as of right now, those pieces are staying in quarantine, as are you.” The man turned to the woman and the silent third person in the room. “We should be taking our leave now and allowing Ms. Aran to… _recover_ in peace.”

The third person silently nodded.

“If it’s all right,” the woman said, “I’ll stay in here a bit longer. I want to continue to monitor the patient.”

“Do as you wish,” the man said as he and the third person turned and walked away. The heavy metal doors opened, and they stepped into a decontamination chamber.

The woman watched them go before she turned back to Samus. “Don’t mind Calvin. I know he is not exactly the best person to wake up to, but he’s just doing his job. He’s one of the officers on this ship, and he just needed to make sure you got the information.”

Samus looked at the woman and wondered vaguely if the two of them had some kind of good-cop-bad-cop routine going on to get her to drop her guard. Still, she could not help but feel slightly more at ease now that the man called Calvin was gone. She was just too exhausted to keep her usual edge.

“I got the information,” Samus said, still surprised how tired her voice sounded as she leaned back against the inclined table. “But I’ll be damned if I let the Federation take the pieces of my powersuit and do anything with them.”

“I understand that,” the woman said, even though she clearly did not. She walked away from where Samus sat and over to what appeared to be a tall computer in the corner of the small white room. Taking a seat on a high stool, she began reading something on the screen. “Well, I do have some good news. Your vitals are mostly stable although your blood pressure is still on the low side. I’d say you’re doing pretty good considering we nearly pronounced you dead just four hours ago.”

“Four hours?” Samus looked at the woman in shock. “How long was I out?”

“Close to eight hours. It was a long surgery, and coming up with that vaccine took a minute.” She paused and continued looking at the screen. “This is interesting… it seems the Metroid DNA didn’t just save you, but it’s actually integrating itself with your own material.”

“I know,” Samus replied. “I’m becoming a human-Metroid fusion.” She knew, however, that those were not the only two species in her genetic make-up. However, she would not tell anyone any more than what they absolutely needed to know.

“Oh…” She seemed strangely disappointed that her news had not gotten more of a reaction from Samus. “Well, on the bright side, it looks like the X parasite has been completely eliminated from your system.”

Samus just nodded. She felt completely drained and watched idly as the blue substance crept over more of her form. The patches of her skin were completely covered now, and she could tell the suit was making its best effort to repair itself. But the events of the day had taken their toll on her, and eventually, despite the presence of the other woman, she found her eyelids falling closed as she leaned back heavily where she sat. Within minutes, she was so deeply asleep the woman at the computer feared she might be slipping back into a coma.

When Samus awoke the second time, the room was dark and empty. Her table had been reclined back into a flat position, and as she sat up on her own, she noticed that she felt stronger than she had before. Looking down at her body, she saw that the organic blue layer had spread over most of where the outer armor had been before, although there were still patches that were just the yellow under-layer. Her arm cannon seemed to have mostly repaired itself, but it was narrower than before. As she held her left hand up to examine it, she notices that there were three razor sharp spikes extending from the blue layer on her forearm. There was no longer any doubt in her mind that the blue layer was a result of the Metroid vaccine.

She still felt weak, and her body still felt heavy, but she decided to try getting off the table and standing up. It took a good deal of effort, but eventually, she was able to get steady on her feet without holding anything for support. She felt very hungry and intensely thirsty.

As she thought about trying to get out of the room, she noticed her HUD was functioning normally again, so she ran a quick diagnostic check. There was some energy shielding back online, but it was only one tank’s worth. She grunted. She had fourteen full energy tanks before the infection. Now it did not even seem to have the capacity to hold that many. Armor was down to about ten percent integrity, and it did not look like it was capable of rebuilding anymore on its own. The power beam was online, but that was it. She did not even have missiles or the ability to use her morph ball.

She could feel her heart rate quicken as she realized how extensive the damage was. Better armor had been issued to her as a private in the Federation Army twenty-two years ago, and the power beam was laughable compared to some of the modern pulse rifle technology. Weakened as she was, if any of her enemies found out, they would be able to destroy her in mere minutes.

The room felt like it was spinning, and as Samus grasped the table to keep from falling, she nicked her tongue on something sharp inside of her mouth. Her eyes grew wide as she realized she now had fangs where her top and bottom eyeteeth had been. She wanted to throw up as she wondered what else the Metroid DNA had done to her human body beneath the armor.

She needed to find a way to get the pieces of her suit back and find a way to get back home to Earth. She desperately longed for the security and serenity of her house with its force field barrier. She wanted nothing more than to lay in bed holding Elisa as their fur kids snuggled up with them. Everything just hurt so badly, and as the reality of her situation dawned on her, intense fear set in. She had not felt this helpless since losing Adam.

Just then, an alarm began to go off as red lights blinked in the corners of the room. A holoscreen appeared on one of the walls beside the heavy metal doors, and as Samus approached it, she saw a man’s face staring back at her.

“Samus,” he said, and she recognized his voice as the man from earlier. “There’s been an incident on the B.S.L. station.”

“What kind of incident?” she asked much more calmly than she felt.

“There’s been an explosion in the Quarantine Bay,” he continued, sounding uncharacteristically desperate. “We believe on of the specimens they brought back from SR-388 might have been a host for one of the X parasites. The scientists on board that station are all in danger, and we can’t risk sending in anyone else. The X are too dangerous.”

“So what do you want from me?” Samus asked coldly, though she secretly worried about the scientists on board as well as the parts of her suit that had been taken to the station.

“You’re the only one who is immune to X infection. We need you to go there and stop the X from spreading. You’re the only one who can safely rescue any survivors.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Samus replied, “but I’m not exactly fighting fit at the moment, and I know there are some seriously hostile creatures on that station.”

“The Federation is willing to cut a deal with you. If you take this mission, we will return the pieces of your suit to you, no questions asked. We’ll also provide you with a new ship you are welcome to keep after the mission is over, and we’ll pay you twice your going rate.”

Samus stared at the image of the man in the holoscreen. He was barely more than a silhouette but she could tell he looked like a Caucasian male in his mid forties. He had dark hair, but she couldn’t make out the color of his eyes.

“What’s the catch?” she asked, already knowing she was going to end up accepting the mission. No matter how beat up she was, there was no way she was going to let innocent people die. Especially not if she was the only one capable of stopping the X now.

“It’s an extremely urgent but extremely delicate mission. You’re going to have to take orders from an automated Commanding Officer program that has access to the station’s mainframe. It will be able to read security cameras and override certain locking features on the station’s doors so you can travel about as safely as possible. And in your current condition, we think having the extra set of eyes is definitely advisable.”

Samus scowled, but she could not argue. She did not trust Artificial Intelligence units, and the idea of following orders disgusted her. The only one she had ever felt comfortable taking commands from was Adam, and that was only because he had taken the time to get to know her and earn her respect when no one else had. The idea of having some computer tell her what to do stung at the wounds his passing had left in her.

“I’ll do it,” she said reluctantly, knowing the lives of the innocents on board the station were more important than her aversion to the computerized CO.

She knew it was a mistake and that there was no way this mission would end well. She knew she was no where near strong enough to go back into battle so soon, but she also knew the responsibility she had assumed when she had taken up the mantle of the galaxy’s protector, and she could not leave the people of the B.S.L. in danger just because she didn’t feel up to fighting.


	6. Chapter 6: Allies

"Well," Samus said as she stared through the forward window of her ship and watched planet SR-388 explode upon impact with the B.S.L. station, "that didn't go as planned…"

The large dachora stared at Samus curiously as it stood beside her pilot's chair. She was still wearing her Fusion Suit, although her final battle aboard the B.S.L. had brought about a marked change in its appearance. The once blue organic layer was now a bright orange reminiscent of her old Varia Suit but lacking its metallic sheen. Her visor was once again green, and she theorized that the suit's return to its original color scheme had to do with her absorbing the X parasite that had infested her suit pieces and hunted her in the form of the SA-X. By now, most of the weapons systems that had been present before her X infection had returned, although the armor itself was still thinner than it had been.

The bounty hunter turned to face the bird alien. "They originally hired me to help them collect a few lichen specimens and maybe some bugs," she explained, not sure how much the creature understood what was happening. "I just blew up the space station and the whole planet."

"Lady," the synthesized voice of the AI said from the mainframe, "I believe she understands better than you think. Dachoras are a very intelligent species."

Samus raised her eyebrows as she looked between the big green bird and the red light on the console that signified that the AI was active. "She? Um… okay. Right. Anyway, we don't really have time for this. We need to figure out how to get the hell out of here before the Federation comes and throws my destructive ass back in prison."

"Get out of here?" The AI sounded confused as it processed what she said. "Why would we get out of here? We need to return to the Federation at once and explain to them why we did what we did."

Samus shook her head only to realize she was not sure if the AI could see her or not. "Negative. They don't understand the threat the X was to the galaxy. The Chozo did, and that's why they created the Metroids to hunt it. But right now, I'm pretty sure there are already officers on the way here to apprehend me because from their perspective, all they know is I've gone rogue and blown up a planet. Again. And a multi-billion credit space station."

"Lady," the AI said, urgency evident in its tone as Samus activated the purple ship's hyperdrive functions. "We can't run like this. You can't live the life of a fugitive, not because you saved the galaxy. One of them will understand. One of them must."

Samus bit her tongue as she activated the thrusters and threw the ship full force into hyperdrive. She could see other ships on the radar, and although they were still far off, she knew they were coming for her. "I can't take that chance. You've been… asleep for a long time now, Adam. The Federation isn't the entity you remember. A lot of things have changed, and they don't like me anymore."

The etecoons screeched in surprise as the ship jerked forward forcefully. The AI hesitated, still processing the fact that Samus had called him by the name of the man whose brain had been uploaded to create his programming. "When exactly did I… go to sleep?"

The ship stopped abruptly as Samus paused just long enough for the much larger ships in pursuit of her to overshoot her location. Knowing her pursuers would not be able to stop as quickly as she had, she changed direction and thrust the ship back into hyperdrive as she headed for an ill-reputed area of deep space. A warning light flashed that the engines were running a little hot as they were not built to go in and out of hyperdrive so quickly, but Samus ignored them. "That'll shake the Feds for a while, but it won't be long before the bounty hunters are after us."

She coughed as she said the last word and tasted a thick splash of blood in her mouth. Not wanting Adam or the dachora to notice, she swallowed the blood quickly. She knew she had sustained some serious damage, particularly in the final fights with both the SA-X and the Omega Metroid, and she knew she had internal injuries. But she had to focus on running right now and could not be bothered with those. As long as she stayed in her powersuit, its life support systems would keep her safe. She just had to hope they did not encounter any enemies.

"Lady," the AI said again, "you didn't answer my question. How long has it been since my original perished?"

"A little over two years." She tried not to let any emotion into her voice. Being reunited with her late friend was strange and dredged up a lot of emotions, but she still had no idea if she could trust this program. After all, why would Federation officials give her a copy of her former Commanding Officer, a staunch proponent of the bioweapons ban, if they had been trying to manipulate her into furthering their bioweapons research?

"So that part is true," Adam mused quietly, and Samus was amazed by the ways in which he could alter his tone. It was clearly a synthesized voice but so much of his tone and speech patterns reminded her of the real Adam. "Please, don't take this the wrong way, but when I was assigned to be your CO for this mission, I was told you and I had a somewhat tumultuous past. Calvin Renpo, the head of bio-research on the G.F.S. Arcadia, told me that they had good reason to believe that you had been the one to murder General Malkovich in life."

Samus paused, gazing absently out the forward window even though she could not see anything in hyperspace. There was a good deal of pain in her chest and abdomen, and she hoped they would be able to get planetside somewhere soon. She needed to ditch this ship and find somewhere she could recover before the bounty hunters got to her. "I was responsible for Adam Malkovich's death."

The AI paused. "So… you're not denying it?"

She shook her head again. "I tried not to let it happen but you…  _he_  saved me. But you know that part, don't you? Because you told me when he chose who would live, he chose wrong."

"…I'm sorry, Samus. I didn't mean that literally, but I also wasn't sure if I could trust you. The data Renpo gave me on you was less than favorable, and if you had killed my original… if you had actually murdered him, you would not have expressed your loyalty to him in the way you did. I had to see for myself."

"So you were testing me?" Samus did not know which was more unsettling, how similar this AI was to Adam or the obviously computerized callousness it had shown her aboard the station earlier. "They must have put in some really good words about me to make you go off on me like that."

Human Adam may have been firm and unafraid to call her out when she was wrong, but he always had a gentler, more respectful way of doing it. When she had come into his command at the age of sixteen, she had been like a traumatized wild animal, and he had gone out of his way to earn her trust and respect. This computer had taken a lot of words she could have imagined the real Adam saying, but it had hurled them at her like bricks, and it was the combination of the familiarity of her Adam combined with that soulless way the machine had about it that unnerved her.

"Lady," Adam said slowly, as though thinking about what he wanted to say, "my memories of General Malkovich's personal life aren't very good. I remembered you when we met, but I didn't remember you well. Most of what I knew of you was that you were in one of the General's units over twenty years ago when he was a Lieutenant Colonel. I knew you had a presence in his life for a time after that, but when minds of scientists and military leaders are uploaded, the details of their personal lives, friends and family, are pushed to the back and suppressed so they function more optimally for their intended use. When I met you, I knew General Malkovich had known you, but all I really knew of you was what they told me at GFHQ, that they had reason to believe you killed the General."

Samus thought over what the computer said. It was difficult for her to think about. She wanted so desperately to believe that this AI was a great discovery and that she was being reunited with Adam, but she knew she needed to fight that urge to give in and believe it was really him. It had only been about a day since she had woken up in the infirmary with her suit cut away and her life turned upside down, but it felt like a lifetime ago. "Do you remember your family?"

"I do." The AI waited for Samus to speak again, but when she didn't he continued. "Pieces of my life started coming back to me when you slipped and called me by my name back on the B.S.L. I have a wife and two daughters. I believe they are in high school. We live on Earth in the town of Willow Green."

Hearing the name of the town made Samus think back to Elisa waiting for her to come home to their big house. She wondered if anyone had told her yet about what had happened. She wondered about her son and how he would react.

"You're close," she said to the computer as she slowed the ship out of hyperdrive and began scouting for nearby planets where she could dock and ditch the Federation's loaner ship. "You have a wife and two daughters, but they are in college now. Abridgette is in her senior year and Evianna is just starting. So if you thought they were both in high school, I'm guessing your mind was uploaded four years ago." It must not have been long after she bought her house on Earth.

The AI was silent for a while as Samus pulled up data on local planets in this sector. She had not been in this region of space in a long time, mostly having frequented it during her early years as a bounty hunter. It was a seedy sort of area that was not quite far out enough to be considered deep space but too far from any of the Federation's central planets for them to have much of a presence in it. It had naturally developed into a haven for crime, serving as an in-between point for smugglers either bringing things in from or taking things out to deep space. A young Samus had spent many a day here searching for criminals, and even if she had not had a particular target in mind, she could usually throw a stone ten feet in any direction and hit one, and that paid the bills for a while.

As she pulled up the map, one planet stood out to her. Melpomene had an atmosphere similar to Earth, and as a result, there were a lot of humanoid creatures that lived and worked there. A lot of large freight cargo ships went to and from it, and while they were mostly legal, they were poorly regulated. Melpomene had some of the most lax security when it came to who was allowed in and out of their atmosphere, and Samus decided she might as well take advantage of that as she put in its coordinates and set her course.

"How are they doing?" Adam asked suddenly and Samus jumped a little at the sound of his voice.

"How are who doing?" she replied, distracted as she readied the ship for re-entry. She did not bother setting the landing functions, however.

"My daughters… and my wife. I have memories of them but if what you say is true, those are at least four years old now. I'm sure a lot has changed in that time. Do they miss… my original?"

"You're right," she said somewhat coldly as she looked for a good place to enter Melpomene's atmosphere, "a lot has changed in four years. Marza misses her husband, and the girls miss their father. But we can't go into all that right now. I need to get rid of this ship."

"…You're planning to destroy it, aren't you?"

Samus sighed. "You're almost as quick as the real Adam was. Of course I am. If I didn't leave a trail of massive destruction in my wake, I wouldn't be me, now would I?" She laughed humorlessly as she opened a few drawers and searched through them.

"You've changed, Lady." The AI's tone was flat. "I suppose destroying me along with this ship is necessary though if you're trying to flee."

Samus didn't say anything as she pulled a small digital compact device from one of the drawers and plugged it into the console, certain now that Adam could see her. "I'm taking the dachoras and the etecoons in the escape pod. You're welcome to join us if you care to upload yourself into this."

The dachora looked at Samus curiously as her small chick ran to her and rested at her feet. The chattering etecoons fell silent at their mention. The red light on the console blinked, a sign Samus took that Adam was thinking over what to say next.

"You clearly don't trust me," the AI said, "so why rescue me?"

"Call it misplaced guilt. Call it stupidity. I don't care. I let you die once, and I may not trust you, but you helped me destroy the X and escape from the B.S.L. when it would have been much easier to let me die along with it. I'm not leaving you behind again."

The red light blinked for a long time as the ship finally came into contact with the outer layers of Melpomene's atmosphere. "I'll join you then. My original must have cared a great deal about you to have sacrificed himself for you, and perhaps I can be of service to you somehow even now. You're in grave danger, Samus. You may be a strong warrior, but even I know the Federation's weapon systems have become considerably more powerful in recent years, and now with the bioweapons ban lifted, there's no telling what sorts of monstrosities they could create next. You may not even be able to defeat some of the Federation's more powerful forces, but I can do my best to help you with that."

"I know all that," Samus snapped a little too impatiently as she found a spot she wanted to crash the ship and began entering the codes to activate the escape pod. She could taste blood in her mouth again and knew she needed to find cover quickly. "I know they have better tech than they did during the war. But, Adam, I really need to get off this ship. Now. Are you going to upload yourself to the compact or not?"

The light on the console blinked red again as the light to the attached compact also began flashing red. Samus took this as a sign he was uploading himself.

"One more word of caution, Lady," Adam said as his data continued to transfer from the ship to the compact. "I don't know when we will be able to speak again, if ever, but I need you to be aware of something. There's a bioweapon that, from what I can tell, has been under construction for several years now. I've come across it in some of the coded files that were on the G.F.S. Arcadia. According to some of Calvin Renpo's logs, there is a prototype for this project they are referring to as the Zero Host."

Samus stopped messing with the ship's controls as she stared at the red light that indicated Adam's presence. Never, since the fateful mission that killed the real Adam, had she heard anyone else utter the words "Zero Host", and it was not for lack of trying to find information on it. There was no way it could be a coincidence that she would only hear about it again, now, from a mutinous Federation AI that bore the memories of the man who had died trying to destroy Zero Host.

Samus had more questions she wanted to ask, but the light on the ship's console went dark as the light on the compact solidified and eventually faded out. As she unplugged the compact and took it in her hand, the warning lights on the dash began to flash, alerting her that collision with one of Melpomene's oceans was imminent if she did not change course. The ship tried to steer itself away from destruction, but Samus overrode its self-preservation mechanisms.

As warnings continued to flash, Samus stood and turned to the animals on board. The etecoons and dachoras stared up at her expectantly.

"We need to get into the escape pod," she said, gesturing to a small white door at the back of the cockpit. "It'll be a snug fit, but we can do it. Don't be scared. Regardless of what happens from here on out, know that I will do everything in my power to protect you."

One of the monkey-like blue etecoons chattered nervously as he looked between Samus and the other two of his species. The three primates looked nervous, but the dachora simply nodded to Samus as her chick huddled against her leg.

"Okay," Samus said, suddenly realizing that these creatures were now looking to her as their leader. "Get in the escape pod. Now. And don't look back."

The three etecoons nodded as they headed for the pod. One jumped on top of another one to reach the handle and open the door. As it opened, the etecoon jumped down as all three of them scampered inside. The dachora and her chick went in next with Samus going in last and closing the door behind her. It was difficult to manipulate with only one hand, but she snapped Adam's compact onto one of the ridges of her arm cannon. The tiny pod was dark and crowded, not really built to house more than two beings, but the animals fit somehow, and that was all that mattered.

With a deep breath, Samus keyed the code into the holoscreens on the wall and disengaged the escape pod. Warnings blared in their ears as it was forcibly ejected from the ship and jettisoned out away from it. Unlike the ship, the tiny pod lacked the capacity for proper stabilizers, and as they rocketed through the air, they felt every jerk and patch of turbulence. Two etecoons and the tiny dachora chick screamed as they felt like they were freefalling for a while. Samus had no way of knowing where they were or how far from the ground they were given that the tiny pod had no windows, but she knew the exact moment they hit the ground.

The pod crashed hard to the surface of Melpomene, and even if it were not as great of an impact as it would have been if they had truly been in a free-fall, the pod did less to mitigate the impact than Samus would have hoped. As it landed, she was thrown into one of its sides as the animals all tumbled on top of her. Something hard struck her in her abdomen where she was already injured, and she yelped. She was thankful, however, that her involuntarily cry of pain was drowned out by the wailing of the baby dachora.

A quick scan from her visor let her know the chick was not injured but simply startled and afraid. She couldn't blame it for feeling that way though. The impact had been particularly jarring, and their near-future looked pretty bleak. Fortunately, none of the animals were injured, and as the pod doors opened automatically, the three etecoons scampered out as quickly as they could, followed by the dachora chick. Only the adult dachora stayed behind with Samus.

The bounty hunter looked up at the avian alien as she tried to stand, but her abdominal injury made that slow and difficult. The dachora looked like she may have been offering to help her, but Samus ignored the offer as she staggered out of the escape pod.

As the mercenary and the dachora stepped out onto the surface of Melpomene, the sun was blindingly bright. They appeared to have landed in a desert of sorts, and the etecoons stared nervously at the vast expanses of orange sand under the clear green sky. It looked like they were in the middle of nowhere, but Samus knew better. She was familiar enough with this planet that she knew there was a shipping hangar not far from where they stood. It would only take an hour's walk to get there, but once they did, they would be able to stowaway in the cargo bay of one of the ships and it would take them far away from this planet and any sign of the Federation's loaner ship.

But the desert sands were hot and burned the feet of the etecoons and tiny dachora chick. As the adult dachora picked up her young one and placed it on her back, she gave Samus a look. Understanding what the alien meant, the bounty hunter simply nodded as she turned to the three etecoons and beckoned them toward her. Their ears perked up as all three of the furry aliens jumped up onto the mercenary's back and climbed onto her shoulders. She knew their little group must have looked weird traveling through the desert the way they were, an armored figure with three blue etecoons on her back walking along with a giant green bird, but until they could find somewhere to stowaway, this formation would have to do.

Samus wished she were traveling alone or at the very least that she would be able to find somewhere safe to leave the animals soon, but from what she could tell, they had no intention of leaving her side. So she did her best to accept it for now, even if the idea of taking on the responsibility of "leading" a small alien group's escape from the Federation made her nervous. But they were her allies now, the only ones she had aside from a computer program that may or may not have actually been her ally. For now, she would have to make do with the team she had, even if she had no plan past the next few hours. For now, they just had to find somewhere safe.

 


	7. Chapter 7: Predators and Prey

Melpomene had not changed much since Samus's early days as a bounty hunter. It did not take her long to find the spaceport she was looking for and sneak into its shipping chamber. The biggest difficulty was finding a way to smuggle the animals onto a transport vessel, but she found one that seemed relatively unattended and somehow got herself and the animals inside before anyone could notice. They hid in a dark corner of the cargo bay behind rows of titanium shipping crates stacked halfway as high as the tall ceiling. The breathed a collective sigh of relief when at last the doors to the cargo bay were closed and they felt the ship take off.

Once the ship switched to simulated night and the crew had gone to bed, Samus decided it was safe to remove her helmet. Tired from the events of the past couple of days, she sat heavily up against one of the steel walls while the dachora watched over her. A couple of times, she spat blood into her palm and stared at it in disgust until she cast it away to burn small holes in the top layer of the steel hull.

"I'm fine," Samus said as the dachora stared at her with concern. "Seriously. My armor is done repairing itself, and my body heals quickly."

They sat in relative silence for a few moments as the bounty hunter reflected upon the events that had led up to her current situation. The only sounds were the etecoons chattering in the distance as they got progressively bolder and began exploring the cargo bay. After a while, she wiped her palm on her armor's breastplate and picked up the compact she had set beside her. She was tempted to turn it on, tempted to ask her old friend for his advice. Now that she finally had a moment to rest, the gravity of what she had done was catching up with her, and she realized she didn't have any kind of plan outside of the next few hours.

The real Adam would have known what to do, and even if he didn't, he would have known what to say to ease her mind. But the real Adam was not here anymore, and as much as she wished she could just accept that this computer was a true copy of the real thing, she didn't trust it. Up until that moment aboard the B.S.L. she had no idea it was common practice to upload the minds of scientists and military leaders, and she had no idea what that entailed. Computer Adam had said that memories of his personal life had been suppressed and were difficult to recall, and if that were true, how much else had the Federation altered about his mind?

The mercenary yawned, exposing her newly developed fangs to the dachora.

"Sorry," she said as she noticed the look of alarm on the bird alien's face. "Didn't mean to startle you."

It occurred to her that the etecoons and dachoras had not actually seen her without her armor, not even when she had rescued them from Zebes five years ago. She wondered what they would have thought to see the change in her now between the fangs and the black vein-like scars on the right side of her face and body. Back at the end of the Space Pirate War, she could still pass as human for the most part. The phazon scars around her right eye had been much less noticeable than her current markings, even if her current markings more closely resembled what she had looked during the phazon corruption itself.

 _Zebes,_  she thought suddenly, making a connection she had not made before. She had rescued the etecoons and dachora from Zebes, where she had been raised by the Chozo as a child. The Chozo, like the dachora, had been a bird-like species, and their language had consisted mostly of bird-like sounds.

 _"Do you speak Chozo?"_  Samus asked the dachora, speaking in the Zebesian tongue. To any other human it might have sounded like bird noises, but for Samus, it felt more like her first language than most of the human ones did.

The dachora looked at her curiously and tilted her head to the side.

 _"Zebes,"_ it squawked in what sounded like a heavily accented dialect of Chozo.

 _"Yes,"_  Samus continued suddenly becoming excited,  _"the language of the Chozo on Zebes. We can communicate more easily like this."_

The dachora stared back at Samus, tilting her head to the other side as she studied the bounty hunter.  _"Hatchling."_

Samus was quiet for a moment after the dachora spoke. She was not sure how the alien knew it, but "Hatchling" had been what the Chozo had named her when they took her in. It had been her name for eleven years.  _"You know that name?"_

The dachora nodded.

 _"Interesting…"_  Samus knew the avian species had not been a native of Zebes. When she had saved them back then, the dachora and the etecoons had taken off in their own ship and disappeared.  _"So how did you end up aboard Biologic's research station?"_

The dachora took a moment to process what she said, and Samus began to think Chozo was not the intelligent creature's first language.  _"Science."_

 _"But you're a sentient species,"_  Samus continued, still confused as to why the dachoras and etecoons had been kept in confinement.  _"The Federation doesn't allow the captivity of creatures like you. It's unethical."_

The dachora tilted her head again.  _"Animals."_

She was not sure what the dachora meant until she thought about it for a few moments. There were a lot of species now that the Federation recognized as intelligent enough to be actual citizens, but there were other, less intelligent species that it recognized more as animals and treated as such. There was always a lot of controversy surrounding which species they should or should not recognize as Federation citizens, and often that decision was steeped much more deeply in politics than in facts. The etecoons and dachoras must have fallen just below the threshold to be considered citizen species, at least as far as the Federation was concerned. She was certain they were smarter than a lot of humans she had known.  _"That still doesn't justify keeping you in captivity."_

Suddenly the mercenary's body was seized with another fit of coughing, but she turned to the side to avoid coughing on the compact still held in her palm. As the blood came from her mouth, it burned more shallow holes in the hull, and Samus knew without access to the medication she took to control its acidity level, her blood would only become more corrosive as time went by.

As she turned back to look at the dachora, she found her and the three etecoons all staring at her.

 _"Rest,"_ the dachora said in a fashion Samus interpreted as stern.

 _"Heh,"_  the bounty hunter replied, wiping her mouth on her elbow.  _"You sound like Adam."_

The bird looked at her curiously and pointed at the compact with her beak.  _"Adam?"_

 _"No,"_  Samus replied as she realized they had no idea who Adam had been.  _"The real Adam… a friend of mine. He died… a long time ago."_

 _"Dead Adam,"_  the dachora clarified, and although that description made Samus uncomfortable, she decided it was accurate enough and didn't correct the bird, lest she make this even more confusing for all parties involved.

 _"Yes,"_ Samus replied as she held up the compact.  _"And this is computer Adam."_

The bird nodded and looked at Samus very seriously once more.  _"Hatchling, rest."_

 _"Fine."_ Samus sighed as she rested against the wall. It was not like she had anything else she could do right now as they floated through space in a locked down cargo bay. She wanted to figure out their next move, but she was exhausted and could not think of anything useful. Besides, the purpose of hiding like this was so she could heal, so she figured she might as well try to do that.

Once the dachora was satisfied, the etecoons scampered away, and the big bird took a seat beside Samus and laid her head in her lap. The bounty hunter smiled as she set down Adam's compact once more and began petting the alien's head and thinking back to her fur kids on Earth. It was not long, however, before the bounty hunter drifted off to sleep.

The dachora sat up and continued to watch over her as the little dachora chick ran to snuggle into the warm spot in Samus's lap where its mother's head had been moments before. The dachora watched as the chick also fell fast asleep, cuddling close against the sleeping mercenary.

She was tired as well, but she also knew Samus was their protector now, and the least could do for the warrior who had saved their lives twice over was look out for her as she recovered from her fights aboard the B.S.L. Once Samus was rested and well, the dachora knew she would be a nearly indomitable force, easily capable of destroying any bounty hunter or Federation agents who might pursue them. But until then, she would let her rest as the massive cargo ship headed ever deeper into the uncharted depths of space.

* * *

Samus did not dream as she slept. She was far too exhausted for that, but it was not a bad thing. Her dreams were rarely good, and the nights when she did not dream were usually the only ones that found her feeling rested at all the next day. Unfortunately, she did not get to sleep long in the dark cargo bay.

As she awakened to the sounds of explosions, her eyes shot open wide, and she was on her feet with her helmet on and her cannon raised before she could even remember where she was. As she scanned around for the source of the disturbance, she was ready to shoot at anything that moved. Only the instinct to be still protected the etecoons and dachoras at first, but as she noticed them, Samus quickly assessed that they were not a threat despite her initial disorientation.

The sounds of gunfire filled the vessel, but Samus could tell it was not coming from within the cargo bay. Someone or something was attacking the main part of the ship and the crew onboard. Pulling up her map and radar interface, Samus discovered another vessel docked on the cargo ship, and from its small sleek design, she recognized it as a hunter class gunship. Whoever was attacking this ship was a bounty hunter, and she would bet anything that they were coming after her. It would only be a matter of time before the hunter found their way into the cargo bay, and then there would be nowhere to run.

Fortunately, save for her recent encounters with the SA-X, running had never been at the top of Samus's playbook. She much preferred to face her enemies head-on, and as she listened to the sounds of gunfire, screams, and growls, she knew this latest enemy would stop at nothing to get to her, even if it meant slaughtering the unwitting crew on whose ship she had stowed away. That did not sit right with her.

Running toward the door to the main cabin, she pointed her cannon toward it and fired off a super missile. She may not have gotten the recovery time she needed, but she was not about to let innocent people get killed on her behalf. As the missile made contact with the door, it blew up a large area all around it, and as smoke billowed into the air, Samus ran into the main part of the ship. She continued down the steel plated corridor as quickly as she could as red lights flashed and sirens blared. She could hear the attacker more clearly now, and from the sounds of the roars reverberating through the hall, she could tell it was not human.

It did not take her long to find the other hunter. As she shot another missile to blow her way into the crew's quarters, she found herself face-to-face with the nearly ten foot tall creature as it stood over the slain bodies of some of the humanoid crew members. Its entire body looked as though it were made of gray stone, but a strange orange energy barrier surrounded it. Its head was faceless and angular, and its body may as well have been a massive boulder. It had six limbs, and the only thing about it that didn't look like a rock formation come to life were its two upper arms, both of which were long blade-like structures emitting the same orange energy.

It roared something incomprehensible at her, and her suit informed her that its words translated to "Samus Aran." She had been correct that this creature was here for her. As Samus and the rock-like bounty hunter faced one another, the remaining humanoid crew members took the lull in violence as an opportunity to run away. Once they were out of range, Samus charged up her diffusion ice missiles and decided to get to work on the creature.

She barely had time to fire off her first shot before beams of orange energy shot out at her from the blades that served as its top row of arms. With her newly agile suit, dodging the attack was easy, and the other hunter's bulky form made it too slow to dodge her diffusion missile attack. Unfortunately, the ice missiles did not have enough power to freeze the other hunter and mostly dissipated upon contact with its energy shielding.

Samus cursed under her breath as she dodged one of the long blades lunging at her. She scanned the rock creature as she fired off a few quick plasma shots at it, but she could not determine a weak point. Even less effective than the ice missiles had been, the plasma beam blasts bounced off of the energy shielding like rubber, ricocheting back toward Samus who had to flip backwards into the air to avoid them. Her split second of distraction, however, presented the other hunter with an opportunity, and as she landed, it fired two of its orange energy blasts into her back.

Samus gasped as she stumbled forward, but she whirled around and quickly fired off a few more ice missile rounds. The force of her enemy's attack had been greater than she expected, and as restored as her suit was, the armor still was not up to full par, so she watched with concern as her energy tanks dropped quicker than they should have. Fortunately, she still had plenty in reserve.

As before, the ice missiles did not do much to the rock creature as they dissipated on contact with its energy shields. This was not going to be an easy battle, Samus realized as she scanned the creature again and still found no weak points in either the energy armor or the stony exterior. Dodging another round of orange beam fire, Samus fired back with a charged wave beam shot. Unlike the plasma beam, the wave beam did not bounce off the creature, but its energy armor seemed to absorb the hit as the armor shielding not became electrified. Samus thought she was finally making some progress until she realized the electricity surrounding it was not hurting the creature.

Before she could stop herself from firing off more wave beam shots, the electricity began to swirl around the other hunter's form, absorbing her wave beam fire into itself. Samus tried to dodge as a stream of the electrical energy rushed out as her, but it caught her within seconds, paralyzing her as she was hit with the full force of her own charged wave beam attacks.

Samus's HUD went to static and blinded her as the electricity surged through her body. Without any way to see or move, she was caught by surprise as something long and sharp jabbed into her. One of the long blades ran straight through the thinner armor of the Fusion suit and impaled her just above her left breast. She screamed as the narrow blade continued through, exiting her back just above her left shoulder blade as the attack brought her to her knees.

As Samus's vision returned, she stared up at the massive creature that stood above her. It seemed to laugh a deep rumbling laugh as its eyeless face stared down at her, still run through by its blade. The hunter had its prey right where it wanted her.

However, the stony hunter did not expect what happened next. Even as the blade was still within her, Samus could feel a new kind of energy rushing into her body through the wound. Not completely understanding what was happening, Samus had the sudden urge to "pull" energy from this new source, and somehow, that was exactly what she did. Grasping onto the blade with her left hand, Samus refused to let the other hunter remove it as her body automatically began draining the orange energy shielding and refilling her own energy tanks. The other hunter roared as it tried to dislodge the blade, but Samus held on tight as the energy surged through her. Behind her, the bloodied bits of the blade began to disintegrate as her acidic blood corroded it.

In a panic as it found its blade arms were melting away, the other hunter stabbed at Samus again, piercing through her abdomen. But the seasoned mercenary did not worry even as she was impaled in two spots. It merely accelerated the rate at which she drained the other hunter's energy. It did not take long before the first blade failed and snapped as Samus's blood burned through it. And even as it fell away, the organic orange layer of the armor grew back over her wound to protect it.

With the other hunter's armor almost fully drained, Samus grinned as she saw it struggle, and as she saw the shielding fail, she let loose a barrage of ice super missiles. As they slammed into the other hunter, it screamed, and as the ice found its way into its stony body, it expanded and began to crack off bits of it as it went. Samus did not relent, not even as the second blade burned through and snapped off of her, leaving the other hunter without any weaponry.

Even once the rock creature was on the ground, Samus continued to lay into it furiously with blast after blast of icy super missiles until her scan visor showed no more vital sign and she was sure it was dead. Even then, she still let off another couple of blasts, just to be sure.

Panting heavily, she stared down at what looked like a lifeless pile of rocks covered in ice. Alarms still blared, and red lights still flashed, but everything else on the ship was silent. She did not know what had become of the crew.

After a few minutes, she glanced over her shoulder to see the etecoons and dachoras staring at her timidly from back in the corridor. It took her a few seconds to remember why they were there as she came down from her battle mode. Nearly unbearable pain coursed through her where she had been stabbed, even if the armor had already repaired its breaches and her energy tanks were full. Her armor might have been intact, but her body underneath could not repair itself in the same way, and she knew she needed to get off of this ship and find somewhere safe in case more bounty hunters showed up.

Grabbing a chunk of stone from the slain hunter's body, she headed down another corridor, following her map to where the creature's ship was docked. Silently, the etecoons and dachoras followed her, although after witnessing the battle, they were a bit more fearful of their protector.

As Samus came across the hatch to where the enemy ship had docked itself, she noticed a few of the humanoid crew members staring at her through the visors of their very basic-looking gray armor. Samus simply pointed her arm cannon at them, and they backed away slowly.

"No one was ever here," she said sternly in her deep, synthesized voice, and a couple of the armored humanoids nodded. She kept an eye on them as she and the animals entered the hangar and closed the hatch behind them.

The other hunter's gunship was similar to the one Samus had gotten from the Federation, but it was a deep green with a golden orange windshield. It was the reverse of her usual preferred color scheme, but Samus could not afford to be picky about aesthetics. This was a ship without an owner now, and it would provide her with a means of escape from this transport vessel. Anyone who came across it would be able to see it was registered to the other hunter, and they would have no way of knowing of the rock creature's demise.

Holding the chunk of its body up to the DNA scanner, Samus watched as a platform descended from beneath the ship. She and the space animals stepped on and were instantly transported into the ship itself. It was nearly identical to the Federation's purple ship except it was clearly designed for a much larger creature than herself. It was a very basic, barren design with a steel plated hull and walls, and it did not take long for Samus to get into the cockpit and sit down in the oversized pilot's seat.

She used the piece of the other hunter to activate the engines as the ship roared to life and the console lit up. However, she sighed as she realized everything was written in the other hunter's language, and her suit was not programed to translate nearly so much of that language at once. As she was trying to figure out what to do, one of the little etecoons climbed up the seat and onto her shoulder. She glanced at it absently until she realized it was holding the Adam compact out to her.

Taking the compact, she stared at it and realized what the etecoon intended for her to do. She pulled one compact from a port on the dash and plugged in Adam instead. For a few seconds the ship went dark, but then it slowly started to reboot itself, and this time the words on the displays appeared in her human language.

"Hello again, Lady," the familiar voice of the AI said from all around her. "I take it a lot has happened since last we spoke?"

Samus could not help but smile tiredly under her helmet at the sound of his voice. "You're right about that, Adam. Now, how about we get the hell out of here and head toward the planets near the Ithaca sector?"

"As you wish, Lady."

The engines roared to life once more as the hangar door opened. The ship shot out into space in a matter of seconds, and it was not long before Samus initiated the jump into hyperdrive and kicked on the autopilot.

"Try not to crash us, Adam," she said as she got up from the pilot's chair. "I need to go freshen up a bit."

"Noted," the AI responded as she turned and walked out into the cabin.

There was a hatch to a crude sleeping quarter off to one side, but Samus was delighted to find a second hatch leading to a standard sized bathroom fit for a humanoid creature. It looked fresh and clean as though it had never been used, and given that the ship's previous owner had been an anthropomorphic boulder, she was pretty sure that was the case.

The bounty hunter went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her, locking the etecoons and dachoras out. She had her doubts about leaving Adam in charge of piloting the ship, but she needed a moment away from it. Despite the way she had used the swords to drain the other hunter's life energy, its attacks had still hurt her badly. Even if her suit had repaired itself, her body was still injured, and she needed to assess it somehow.

Up until this point, she had not removed her suit since receiving the Metroid vaccine. She knew she had developed fangs and apparently an ability to drain her enemy's life force, but she had no idea what other physical characteristics the vaccine had changed. She also wondered absently if she would have to be impaled every time she wanted to use her new power. The whole situation was just so weird that she did not know what to think of it.

Bracing herself for what she might see, she turned to the full-length mirror as she deactivated her suit. It began to glow with an orange-gold light as it normally did, but unlike it usually did, it did not disappear quietly into the heavy compact on the chain around her neck. Instead, she was instantly seized by a pain deep in her chest. She grunted as she struggled to breathe, her chest feeling suddenly heavy and constricted as the pain clamped down on it. She thought she was having a heart attack as she fell to her hands and knees, unable to scream.

But the pain disappeared as suddenly as it had come on, and as Samus opened her eyes and saw her hands, she noticed that she was no longer in her powersuit. They did not look much different than before, but her already dark nails were now longer and claw-like. The vein-like black markings that normally traveled down her right hand now had a blue-green tinge to them.

Panting quietly, Samus slowly stood. She was shaky, and while the pain in her chest was gone, she could still feel her other wounds, and they threatened to bring her to her knees again. As she saw herself in the mirror, the first thing she noticed was how exhausted she looked. Sweat and blood caked up in her hair and on her skin, and the lines around her eyes were more pronounced. It was the first time she found herself thinking that her age was starting to show.

Her navy blue jumpsuit was torn in the places where she had been stabbed and where the Federation doctors had cut her suit down to her skin. Dried and fresh blood mingled amongst her new and old wounds. One thing that seemed out of place, however, was when she noticed she no longer had the powersuit's chain around her neck. She felt her throat for it, her heart racing in instinctive panic, but on some level she knew exactly what had happened.

Unzipping the front to her jumpsuit and sports bra, she looked at the center of her chest. There was a red mass, glowing just below her skin. She could make out the symbol of her powersuit, the circle with the "S"-shaped lightning bolt going through it, but it was surrounded by glowing red vein-like markings that appeared to branch off and integrate themselves with her other black markings.

Her powersuit was now within her, deep in her chest like the red nuclei of an Omega Metroid. Her blood went cold, and she shivered with disgust as she realized what was happening to her. The Metroid DNA was within her, and she was a Metroid Fusion now, but until the moment she saw her new "nuclei" the full impact of that fact had not hit her. If there had been anything in her stomach, she was certain she would have emptied its contents then and there, but fortunately that was not the case.

Bracing herself once more, she pulled her jumpsuit away further to reveal the shoulder and abdominal wounds she had suffered at the hands of the other hunter. They were there, clear as day, but a sort of membrane had grown over them to close them up. Samus thought she was going to be sick again when she touched the clear membrane and pulled her fingers back to find they were coated in a very Metroid-like goo. It was like being punched in the gut, and once more she fell to the ground, but this time it was in disgust.

She sat up, just staring down at her body for a long time. In a sort of daze, she finally stood up and zipped up her bra and jumpsuit once more. Her body was on autopilot as she stumbled out of the bathroom. The etecoons and dachoras looked on, surprised to see her in her humanoid form for the first time as she pulled down her hair and headed for the mostly barren bedroom structure.

She opened the hatch, entered the room, and found a crude "bed" that consisted of nothing but a thick, kind of soft mattress pad. Without another word, Samus lowered herself onto the pad and laid on her side. Her mind was too overloaded to process anything and within minutes, she was unconscious

 


	8. Chapter 8: Left Behind

Elisa had known something was wrong when she had not heard from Samus the night before. The mercenary was not always the greatest about keeping in touch when she switched into her work mode, but she had always made a point to at least try. Waiting for Samus to return from a mission was always like sitting on pins and needles for the officer, and while Elisa knew it was not unusual to go for days at a time without hearing from her, last night was different. The expedition with Biologic should have been a short mission. There shouldn't have been any major battles. Samus should have finished it up quickly and called to let her know she was on her way back.

But the bounty hunter never called. And as a result, her partner did not sleep, lying awake in bed until the first rays of sun woke the dogs and they demanded to go outside. At that point, Elisa had been all too anxious to get out of bed, keeping her phone close by her side even as she took all four dogs and the mini-horse out into the backyard of their expansive property. It was a cool autumn morning, and Elisa wrapped her bathrobe tightly around herself as she waited for Flossie and Archer to do their business and be ready to come back inside. The other animals would be happy to spend some time playing outside, particularly Rhiannon. As a Siberian Husky, she greatly enjoyed crisp mornings like this one.

As Elisa brought the two dogs inside, she noticed her calendar and flipped the page from September to October. With a sigh, she noted the date. October 1st, 2239. Exactly thirty-five years to the date of the K-2L massacre. The Federation Media Agency would be broadcasting a memorial later, the sort of thing Samus had always avoided because it triggered her post-traumatic stress, but since Adam's death, she had become highly suspicious of the Federation. She now avoided the memorial broadcast because she condemned it as tasteless propaganda the Federation used to inspire loyalty in its citizens now that they no longer had the Space Pirates to rally against.

Her lover's increasing contempt for the government she had once served worried Elisa. Samus did not do well with biting her tongue and keeping her head down; she stood up against those entities she deemed a danger. And with the repeal of the bioweapons ban and General Harper rising to Secretary of Defense, Elisa knew it was only a matter of time before her partner did something that would land her in hot water. That's why she was not surprised when, later that morning, she heard the bell ring and saw on the security cameras that Colonel Maroney was back for another visit.

As before, she let the Colonel into the house as Archer stared the intruder down. Elisa listened silently, half in a daze as the Colonel recounted the tale of Samus's treason on the B.S.L. Her story started with the X infection and emergency surgery. It ended with Samus going rogue and blowing up not only the B.S.L. station, but also the entire planet SR-388. Maroney wanted Elisa to come in for questioning, but as she had done during Samus's arrest for murder two years ago, the officer politely declined the invitation, insisting she needed time to retain an attorney. With Archer staring her down and contorting his face into the beginning of a snarl, the Colonel did not protest. She left at Elisa's request, only pausing to mention she planned to come back with a warrant.

Elisa did not say anything as she closed the door behind Maroney and watched her leave the property before reactivating the force field in that area. She knew the Colonel could easily compel her to answer questions or imprison her for interrogation given the severity of Samus's crimes. She did not know what to make of the situation.

The officer simply passed the rest of the day in relative silence. At one point, she called her precinct to let them know she was sick and would not be able to show up for her shifts. It was not completely a lie, and with her mental state the way it was, she doubted she should be out on the streets enforcing the law. Not that any real crime ever happened in Willow Green. It was a quiet town.

It was getting close to dusk as she still sat on the living room couch, petting her little white dog as the other animals curled up close to the gas fireplace. She had gotten dressed but had not bothered to throw on anything fancier than a sweatshirt and jeans. The Colonel's visit had left her without the wherewithal to do more than sit around as reality set in. Samus was gone. Her Samus was gone, on the wrong side of the law and probably so far into deep space at this point that no one would ever find her. Elisa might never see her again. Her partner would not be returning from this mission. She would never awaken again to find that Samus had returned in the middle of the night and snuggled into bed beside her. She might never see her again. Her life partner, her lover, her friend. Her Samus.

She had always known this day could come, although she had not known whether it would be because Samus would be killed in battle or end up in a fugitive situation similar to the one she was in now. Either way, she had always braced herself for something like this each time Samus got into her ship and left for a mission. Only now, Samus didn't have her own ship anymore, and she had been horribly mutated by the Metroid vaccine. Elisa was not sure exactly how that had affected her, but she remembered all of the changes that had taken place when Samus had absorbed the xenomorph DNA fours years earlier.

The officer was just wondering if it were late enough to justify going upstairs and trying to go to bed when she heard the bell ring to indicate someone was outside the force field. Wondering who could be visiting at this hour, she pulled the camera images up on her watch and was surprised to see a very tall young man with sandy-colored hair. Recognizing him immediately, she let down the force field in that area and watched as he approached the house. He moved decisively with long strides, and Elisa could tell he was angry.

Moving Flossie off of her lap, Elisa walked over to the front door and opened it before he had a chance to knock. He didn't acknowledge Elisa's presence as he brushed right by, and let himself into the house.

"Where is she?" he demanded as he looked around the first floor before turning to face Elisa. The way the young man's green eyes bore into her was reminiscent of Samus's glare. He was a large man, taller than Samus herself, and he was muscular, but his age suggested he was barely finished growing.

"She's not here," Elisa replied quietly, closing the door and reactivating the force field. "She left for a mission a couple of days ago and never returned. Colonel Maroney came by and told me everything. She's on the run it seems."

"And you haven't had any way to contact her?" He was angry, but his anger clearly was not aimed at Elisa. "I need to know where she is. I didn't even know she was going back into space so soon. She didn't even say goodbye…"

Elisa sighed as she walked languidly over to the couch and sat back down. "You shouldn't be here, Hector. Aren't you supposed to be away at school now? Does your father know you left?"

"I was at school," he replied, walking over and flopping into an oversized armchair by Elisa, "but then I saw in the news that my mother apparently blew up a planet and a space station and there's a huge bounty on her head. What happened? I don't understand this at all!"

"I don't have all the details," Elisa replied as Flossie climbed back up into her lap and the other dogs stared absently at the two humans. "I know she suspected some kind of unethical bioweapon experiment was going on, but of course, the Colonel didn't mention any of that. Just that your mother went crazy and blew up the station and planet. I'm sure she had a good reason for doing so, but I think the less you know, the better off you'll be. I don't even think you should be here talking to me. We don't want the Federation to figure out that Samus has a child."

Hector glared at Elisa in a way that was too eerily similar to Samus. "First off, I'm not a child anymore. I'm twenty years old. You don't need to protect me anymore. And second, with the way they've been watching her since General Malkovich died, do you really think the government hasn't figured out by now that I'm her son?"

"I don't know what they've figured out, but the less connection it looks like you have to Samus, the better off you'll be. And if she were here she would tell you that herself."

"But she's not." Hector leaned forward in the chair. "We need to find her."

"Hector…"

"Hear me out. We need to find her. We can take a commercial flight out to Aliehs III and take that other ship she has. The one with all the guns and stuff on it that she used during the Phaaze incident. I can fly it. I'm authorized to pilot her ships. We take it and we go find Samus."

"Hector…" Elisa shook her head. "You don't think the Feds are already all over her second ship?"

"She hasn't used that ship since Phaaze. She told me she reported it destroyed after that, and that was almost ten years ago. And you know the shipyards at Aliehs III. They don't exactly comply with Federation regulations when it comes to ship registry."

"Hector," Elisa sighed, "do you remember what happened last time you got the idea in your head to follow your mother into space and look for her? Do you remember how badly that turned out?"

Hector frowned. "It was different then. I was a kid. I'm an adult now. I've been to space dozens of times since then. I can pilot a ship, and I know how to fight. I was trained by Samus Aran for four years. We can do this."

"Samus trained you in self-defense, not how to go fight intergalactic bounty hunters. And believe me, that's who's pursuing her now. Samus Aran might have trained you, but you don't know a fraction of what she knows. You have no experience in actual combat, and you don't even have any kind of armor. And even if you did find your mother, what then? You're going on the run with her? She wouldn't want that. She'd want you to stay in school and finish your degree. She made a lot of sacrifices so you could have a normal life. Don't throw that away. And what about Abby Malkovich? You just planning to leave her behind?"

Hector looked suddenly guilty at the mention of Abby Malkovich. He had been dating the late General's daughter since they had been in high school together, but in his flurry of emotions upon hearing what had happened to his mother, he had forgotten to consider her. "You're right… I can't do that to Abby."

Elisa nodded. "If nothing else, remember that. I know you love that girl, and she's been through a lot in the past couple of years. Don't go breaking her heart with some half-baked idea of running off to deep space and hunting down someone who doesn't want to be found."

Hector slumped his shoulders and sat back. "I just… hate feeling like there's nothing I can do. I just don't want to never see her again. I didn't know her for the first fifteen years of my life. She can't be gone this soon."

"I know it's hard to take everything in right now." Elisa put Flossie to the side as she stood up and walked into the kitchen area. "But we don't know everything for certain yet. Samus is smart. And she's strong. If anyone can survive out there like that, it's her. And maybe, somehow, she'll find her way back to us."

Hector stood up as well but didn't move from the living room. "I'm sorry I rushed out here so abruptly. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble. I know you're probably as upset as I am."

Elisa shook her head. "It's no trouble at all. If anything, it felt good to have someone to talk to about it. If you don't want to drive all the way back to school, you're welcome to crash here for the night. You know Samus always made sure we kept a room for you."

"I think that's a good idea." Hector smiled as he walked toward the staircase. "Thanks, Elisa."

Elisa made herself smile as well. "It's no problem kid."

Once he was upstairs and out of earshot, Elisa leaned over the sink, just staring down into it but not really seeing anything. She pictured her lover's face and longed to fall into her arms once more. She needed her to be there to comfort her, but that wouldn't happen. She wondered where Samus was, how she was doing, whether she was alive or dead.

"Samus…"

* * *

"Elisa…"

Samus mumbled her lover's name as she slowly awakened. Her eyes were still closed, but she could feel the warm body in her arms as she tightened her embrace. She was still sleepy and didn't want to wake up, but as she gained consciousness, she knew she had to. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, looking forward to gazing down at her partner in her arms.

Instead, as she opened her eyes, she found herself face to face with the big yellow eyes of a little blue etecoon. It made some chattering noises as it grinned back at her, and Samus sat up abruptly, accidently throwing the little creature to the other side of the mattress pad. It made some sad squeaking noises, but it was all right as it sat up and stared at her.

Disoriented, Samus looked around, trying to remember where she was. Five pairs of eyes stared back at her as she realized two other etecoons had been curled up on her as she slept, and the big dachora had laid beside her with the chick resting on her feathery head.

" _Morning,_ " the dachora said as bits of memories came rushing back to Samus.

"Um," the bounty hunter stammered, running a hand through her hair, "good morning to you too."

She had been laying on a mattress pad designed for a significantly larger being, and she remembered falling unconscious on it after assessing her injuries and noting the effects of the Metroid vaccine. At some point in the night, the animals must have covered her with a blanket because there was one on her now. Samus wrapped it around herself as she noted a chill in the room.

"Thanks for the blanket, by the way. Did you guys cuddle with me all night?"

The dachora and three etecoons nodded.

" _Cold Hatchling,"_ the dachora said.

"You're all here because you noticed I was cold?"

Again, the animals nodded, and Samus smiled, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"You guys are sweet." She turned to the etecoon she had accidently tossed. "Sorry about throwing you, little guy. I just wasn't expecting to see you. I get… a little confused when I first wake up."

The etecoon chirped, and Samus took it as his way of accepting her apology.

The bounty hunter yawned as she stood up and stretched. She felt a painful pulling in her abdomen and then remembered she had been impaled during her last battle. Looking through the hole in her jumpsuit, she found the wound and noted it looked like it was healing. The Metroid membrane was gone, but it looked seriously inflamed. Biting her lip, Samus knew that was not a good sign. If it was infected, she would have to find someplace to get antibiotics, but that was not going to be a small feat out in deep space.

It then occurred to her that she had no idea where they were or how long she had been asleep. Leaving the bedroom, she headed toward the cockpit and found the console all lit up as the ship's AI piloted the system.

"Good morning, Lady," Adam's synthetic voice called out to her as she sat down in the oversized pilot's chair. "Did you sleep well?"

"Um… I guess?" She looked around at their coordinates and noted which sector they were in. They were very far out into Deep Space now, far from Federation territory. "How long was I out?"

"Fifteen hours or so. But I can't say I'm surprised. After your battles on the B.S.L., you must have been exhausted."

Samus grunted. "You have no idea." Leaning back in the chair, she pressed a few holograms as it reclined into a horizontal position. "Adam, I need you to do a diagnostic scan of my body. I need to know what's going on with it."

"As you wish, Lady."

The bounty hunter stared absently at the ceiling as the beams of light ran over her, scanning her body. It felt strange to be lying on her back, feeling so vulnerable as she put her trust in this computer program to tell her what she needed to know. She had already put her trust in it for fifteen hours while she slept, knowing it could have brought her straight into Federation custody. But it hadn't. Adam had stayed the course and taken them out of harm's way. She knew she shouldn't trust him just yet, not after what the Federation had put her through, but without any human contact, she was feeling lonely and desperate. She wished she could just accept that she was reunited with her best friend and that he was on her side, but she couldn't let herself. Not yet.

"All finished," Adam's synthesized voice said as he slowly raised her seat back into an upright position.

"Great. So, what's the damage?"

"Several genetic anomalies detected, likely the result of the Metroid DNA integration. There appears to be a heavy concentration of energy in your chest cavity, perhaps related to the power suit? You have several injuries, most notably in your left shoulder and your abdomen. Restricted use of left arm recommended. The abdominal wound appears infected. Immediate medical treatment recommended."

Samus groaned as she leaned forward with her hand on her forehead. "Easier said than done. If this were a human ship, sure, I'd have access to the medicines I need, but I doubt this species has anything of the sort."

"I wish I could suggest a planet where you could get treatment, but I'm not familiar with anything outside of Federation territory."

The bounty hunter nodded. "No, you never had any need to be. Luckily, I've had to track many an enemy out this far in the bad old days. I know a few of the seedier places cargo runners make their pick-ups and drop-offs. Drugs are a hot commodity out here, regardless of species, since they're so hard to smuggle out of Federation territory. I'm sure we can score some antibiotics if we find some human drug smugglers."

"Again, Lady, I don't know anything about this sector."

"No problem," Samus said, manually entering some coordinates. "If I recall correctly, we're not to far out from Terpsichore, and if that place is anything like it was fifteen years ago, we'll have our pick of smugglers to buy from."

"Without any money?"

Samus shrugged. "Did you honestly think we were gonna hold onto this ship? First thing I'm doing once we land is selling this. It's still registered to that other bounty hunter, and sooner or later, someone's gonna figure out he's dead and who he was hunting at the time. Best to put some distance between us and anything tying us to him."

"So you're going to sell the ship and use the money to buy medicine? And hopefully have enough left over to buy a new ship…"

Samus shrugged again. "Buy one, steal one. What does it matter at this point? I'm already a felon. Stealing a ship from another felon really won't make a difference, and then they won't be able to report it missing to the Federation Police because, hey, they're felons and probably stole the ship from someone else."

"…You're getting into ethically questionable territory, Lady."

Samus glared at the green circle of light in the console, figuring that was the best way to glare at computer Adam. "You knew me during my early bounty hunting days, but you never knew what I really did out there to earn the reputation I had. You don't become an expert at hunting down criminals the way I did without being one yourself."

"You're not exactly inspiring my trust."

Samus laughed. "You're worried about trusting me? You're the sketchy computer program made out of my dead best friend's brain. You were probably programmed by the same evil scientists who tried to keep me too weak to fight the SA-X and tried to imprison me on the B.S.L. so they could capture it. If anyone should be having trust issues right now, it's me."

"And yet, you're the one who let me pilot the ship while you slept for fifteen hours when you know perfectly well that etecoons and dachoras are capable of flying ships."

Samus didn't say anything for a minute as she thought about what he said. It was true. Etecoons and dachoras could fly ships, and she knew that. For some reason, it had not occurred to her earlier. But then again, she had been a bit distracted by her injuries and discovering the effects of the Metroid vaccine.

"Regardless," she said as she pressed a few more buttons and manually overrode the autopilot, "I'm awake now, and I'm in control. We're on our way to Terpsichore, and when I sell this ship, you can decide whether you want to come with me and the animals or not."

Adam was quiet for a moment as his light blinked. "I'm not going to abandon you, Samus. We've been in this thing together since we blew up the B.S.L., and I'm staying with you for as long as you'll allow me."

"Even if it means going up against the Federation? Trying to find and snuff out their bioweapons experiments before they can do anymore damage to the galaxy?"

"Especially if it means opposing their bioweapons research. You've always known my feelings on that."

Samus nodded. "You dedicated your life to that. You died for that."

"Lady… I'm sorry if this is bad timing, but I really would like to know… how did I die exactly? What were we doing?"

The bounty hunter sighed. "It'll be a good minute before we get planet-side. It's a long story, but I guess I can start it before we land."

 


	9. Chapter 9: On the Run

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry I have not been updating quite so much as I usually do. I've been quite busy and having a couple of health issues. I'm having a surgical procedure next week, which I figure will either be really good for my writing (because I'll be stuck in bed with nothing better to do) or not so great for it (because I'll be sleeping and feeling like crap). So if you don't hear from me, it's because I'm laying in bed watching 30 Rock reruns or something. But knowing me, I probably won't be able to just sit around doing nothing and will have to do some writing to stay sane. lol
> 
> In other news, I got to go to the Stevie Nicks concert Wednesday night, and it was absolutely amazing! If you haven't figured out by now, I'm a little obsessed with Stevie Nicks. Love her. (Thus the name Eevee Nicks.)
> 
> Anyway, there's a little Easter Egg in this chapter because I could not help myself. There's a scene that's direct nod to a very similar one in an old black-and-white classic movie from the 60's. If you can correctly spot it and let me know, you get... um... I don't know. You get ten points! (I don't know what the points are for or who is keeping score, but you get them!)

 

  **Chapter 9**

 

_As Samus's missile took out the blast shield and the smoke cleared, she and Adam looked through the opening in the now-accessible hatch. The derelict space vessel was dark, its auxiliary lights barely functional now that it had been sitting abandoned for so long. Walking through the hatch, the General and the mercenary continued down the long corridor._

_"What are we looking for exactly?" the mercenary asked as she led the way, keeping her arm cannon raised in front of her. It was eerily quiet for a vessel that was supposed to contain living bioforms, and Samus wondered if they had all perished along with the crew._

_"I'm not sure exactly. Perhaps a weapons lab of some kind. Any living creature. Anything really." The General did not sound sure of himself as he followed the bounty hunter, his own rifle raised and ready._

_"So if we do find anything, how do we know if it's this 'Zero Host' thing or not? Unless we find it in a lab labeled 'Zero Host Lab', I have no idea what we're even supposed to be looking for." Samus's annoyance was evident in her tone. She did not mind exploration, but she had hoped that if Adam were out here risking his life for something so important, he would have at least had some idea of what it was._

_The General hesitated for a few moments as only the clicking of their metallic boots down the steel-plated corridors broke the ominous silence. "I don't think it will be like anything either of us has ever seen before. I don't know what it is, but I believe it's an amalgam of sorts, a weaponized life-form made up of pieces of other organisms."_

_"So we're looking for some kind of evil Frankenstein bug?"_

_"I don't know if I would call it evil, but yes, something like that." The General frowned. "I doubt it would be something with the self-aware consciousness to determine right from wrong or if it's even viable right now, but I believe the scientists working on it integrated data we brought back from the LV-426 mission."_

_Samus's even steps faltered for a second at the name of the moon. "Xenomorphs," she whispered, her pulse rising, "or even Metroids…"_

_"That's right," the General replied as they stopped at a fork in the corridor._

_He watched as Samus tapped a button on her arm cannon and her armor glowed and changed from the golden-orange of the Varia Suit to the black and silver armor of the Xeno Suit. The suit upgrade had been one of her souvenirs from the LV-426 mission, and it was the only armor strong enough to protect her against the highly-acidic blood of a xenomorph._

_"Good idea, Lady," he said as they looked between the two paths and tried to decide which one to take._

_"One of us has to be responsible, and for once it looks like it's going to be my job." She sighed and shook her head. "The sooner we find this thing and blow its brains out, the better. If I never see another Metroid or xenomorph again, it will be too soon."_

_Samus tensed up as she suddenly heard a shrill shriek in the distance._

_"Lady?"_

_"Hush!" She held up her hand to the General, peering down the corridor from which the sound had come. They waited in silence for a minute before she heard it again. "You hear it this time?"_

_The General nodded. "It sounded like—"_

_"I know what it sounded like." Samus growled under her breath. "Leave it to the Federation to be stupid enough to try to recreate fucking Metroids…"_

_"I don't know how they would do that. We made sure not to bring any Metroid genetic material back with us from LV-426, and I doubt Ripley or Newt tried to smuggle anything on board your ship."_

_Samus looked at Adam. "The Infant. The one I brought back three years ago from SR-388. I just assumed any of its genetic material would have been destroyed when the Ceres Station blew up…"_

_The General didn't say anything as he regarded his friend quietly. He knew the Infant Metroid and the Ceres Station were sensitive subjects for her, largely because she blamed herself for the deaths of the researchers on board after Ridley attacked to kidnap the last Metroid._

_"Zero Host," Samus said quietly, "could it be a Metroid clone? The first one they built and are using to create other Metroids?"_

_"It's possible, I suppose." Adam didn't sound confident. "If the Infant had contained the genetic coding to evolve into a Queen, I suppose they might have cloned one of those."_

_"You don't sound convinced," Samus replied._

_"I have a hard time believing Zero Host is as simple as a Metroid clone."_

_The shrill screech sounded again in the distance as Adam and Samus turned to stare down the hall. At least they no longer needed to decide which way they would go next. The General could feel the anticipation radiating off of the mercenary as images came flooding back to her of her battles with a species she had long believed to be extinct. Without another word, they started in the direction of the shriek, Samus leading the way._

* * *

Computer Adam listened to Samus recount the events onboard the derelict space vessel on which his original had ultimately perished. Through the ship's sensors, he could tell her pulse was steadily rising as she piloted the ship toward Terpsichore. Her body temperature was also getting higher as he noticed beads of sweat forming on her forehead and deduced that the infection in her abdomen was progressing. With no way of knowing what a standard body temperature for a creature like her was supposed to be, he had no way of knowing if she were running a fever at this point or not, but if she was not at the moment, he was certain she would be soon.

"Lady," the AI said, cutting her story short, "are you feeling all right?"

"What?" Samus looked at the computer's light on the dash. "No… I'm not. I'm a wanted fugitive, and I got impaled twice yesterday by some weird stone bounty hunter. I'm part Metroid now, which is great at fighting X infections but apparently less helpful than penicillin at fighting the regular kind. So no… not really doing super great right now, but thanks for asking."

"I'm not trying to be rude, Samus. I'm concerned about your wellbeing."

The bounty hunter snorted at his statement. "You're not concerned. You're a computer. You're just responding to anomalies in my vital readings."

"Why can't it be both?"

Samus sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I'm too tired to sit here and debate with you about the legitimacy of whether or not artificial intelligences can feel human emotions. Maybe you're concerned, and maybe you're not. It doesn't change anything."

"I suppose that's fair enough," Adam replied. "I have no way of knowing if what I construe as emotion is the same as what my original did. My consciousness is bound by the limits of its own experiences. I do agree with him about one thing though. The Zero Host is definitely not a simple Metroid clone."

Samus sat up straighter as she looked down at the light on the dash. "We figured out that much before he died. We just never figured out what it was."

"You mentioned at one point that he believed the scientists aboard that vessel had co-opted his own anti-bioweapons research reports as a part of their project?"

Samus wiped the sweat from her brow on the back of her sleeve. She was still in the torn and bloodied navy blue flight suit she had put on back in her house on Earth what felt like decades ago. Her face was starting to look pale. "Yeah, that's what he told me. I tried to find those reports, but I was never able to. I figured if I knew what was in the reports, I might get some clues as to what the project was so I could hunt it down myself even after he… even without him."

"Well I don't know which reports he was referring to, but if you like, I can try to search around some of the Federation databases and see what I can piece together."

Samus's eyes widened as she looked at the light. "You can do that? You have that kind of clearance?"

Adam paused. "Not exactly. I sort of self-destructed my actual links to the Federation just after I detained you on the B.S.L., before I revealed my identity to you. I didn't want them spying on us through my channels. I can't go back, but I can do some old-fashioned hacking and researching."

"Heh… that's certainly an upgrade from your original. Adam couldn't break into a system if the password was 'password'."

"Such are the benefits of being an artificial intelligence, I suppose."

Samus stared out of the forward window as she made her way into Terpsichore's atmosphere and began the manual landing sequence. This far out into Deep Space, she didn't have much need for cloaking features, and she was glad for that because she was feeling too sick to focus on figuring out how to work them on this ship. She did not know this planet as well as Melpomene, but she knew roughly where they'd be able to sell off the ship or try to swap it for a new one. The black market didn't have to try to hide itself too hard out here. There were no real laws to enforce in these parts.

Pulling up a map of the area and running a scan, it didn't take Samus long to find somewhere to land. She chose a place nearby a used ship lot, and once they got past the turbulence of reentry, her landing was smooth and proper as though she were docking at a regular spaceport.

"Time to go, Adam," she said, tapping the compact.

Within seconds, the light on the compact began to blink, and the light on the dash disappeared. When she was certain her digital companion was safely in his compact, she pulled it from its port. As an afterthought, she searched through a few drawers near the console and found an earpiece. It was roughly designed for humanoid ears, and she played around with the settings so it could interface with the compact as she put it on.

"Can you hear me, Adam?" she asked once she had the earpiece in and turned on.

"Loud and clear, Lady," the AI's voice came into her head, and she could not help but smile. It made her feel less alone knowing he was with her, even if she did not want to admit that to herself.

The bounty hunter stood up slowly, one hand over her abdominal wound as it protested her movements. She needed to find antibiotics quickly or she would not be able to get around very well at all. As she exited the cockpit, she noticed the etecoons and dachoras staring at her expectantly.

"I'm selling this ship," she informed them. "We need to get out of here. I need to try to find medicine."

One of the etecoons made a soft squeak as his stomach rumbled audibly.

"And I suppose we should try to find you guys some food as well," Samus said as she tried to force a smile. She thought about activating her powersuit but balked as she remembered the sharp pain in her chest when she had deactivated it last time. She decided she was better off without it given how recognizable it was and that most bounty hunters would probably be looking for her in the suit.

It did not take long to get everyone off of the ship, but as the platform lowered and the animals stepped out onto the surface of Terpsichore, they were immediately disoriented by the significantly higher gravity. The etecoons' ears drooped as they noticed how heavy all of their bodies suddenly felt, and the little dachora chick just sat and cried until its tired-looking mother picked it up and placed it on her back. Even Samus, who normally was not too phased by changes in gravity, felt like she had a massive weight pressing down on her, but she tried to ignore it as she led the animals toward the used ship lot a few meters away.

The sky was a soft golden-pink champagne color, and there were no clouds visible anywhere. Soft red soil covered the ground, marked by the footprints of the many creatures that had walked over it. The used ship lot was mostly just a bunch of older looking space ships on a wide lot of red soil. There was only a single structure on it, a small chrome building that must have served as a sort of office.

As Samus and the animals approached, the proprietor of the lot noticed them and began making his way over. He appeared to be a purple slug-like creature roughly the height of Samus. He had six arms but no legs, and his eyes were a bright yellow that almost resembled those of the etecoons. He appeared to wearing a sort of six-armed vest. As he made his way toward Samus and the animals, he tried striking up a conversation in an alien language, but he quickly noticed that none of them seemed to understand what he was saying.

"I'll assume then," the slug-creature said in a nasally voice, "that at least one of you speaks Federation Standard Language 3?"

Samus smiled, thankful for the small miracle. "Yes," she replied, "I do."

"Excellent!" He said with a mouth gesture Samus could only assume was the monostome's version of a grin. "What are you in for on this fine day? Looking to browse around a little? Test fly some of our models?"

Samus didn't feel like bothering with pleasantries. She wanted to get as far away from the dead bounty hunter's ship as fast as humanly possible. "Let's do a trade. My ship for one of yours. That red one in the back looks nice."

The salesman seemed taken aback by her abruptness, but he kept his cool. "That one back there is a nice model, but we've got similar ones as well if you want to take your time. Or do you want to try that one out?"

"I just want to do the trade," Samus said, not feeling well as they stood out in the hot sun. "Does that work? I'm in a hurry."

The slug creature thought it over for a few moments. "It's the first time the customer ever high-pressured the salesman. I figure roughly... your ship plus seven hundred credits."

"Seven hundred credits?" Samus had not expected him to ask for any money in addition to the trade-in of the dead bounty hunter's ship. She did not have so much as a single credit to her name now that she was a fugitive.

"You always got time to argue money, huh?"

Samus shook her head. "That won't work. I want to do a straight trade, no extras. What ship can you set me up with?"

"See, I don't think I can do that, Ma'am," the slug creature said to Samus as he looked her up and down. "Look, you're acting like you're in a real hurry to get that ship off of your hands like it's hot. I bet you anything you stole that ship, and I don't need to be down one decent ship plus that one whenever someone comes by to try to repossess it. Now you can trade it and pay up, but the price in credits just doubled, or you can walk away, and I'll give you cash for what it's worth in parts."

Samus looked from the slug to the ship and back. "How much?"

"Five thousand credits worth."

"Five thousand credits? It's worth a hell of a lot more than that!"

"Not to me it isn't," the salesman replied. "Stolen ships ain't worth the headache, and parts ain't worth the price of the ship."

Samus looked between the slug and ship again. "Fine. I'll take it."

"Very well," the salesman said, pulling a roll of Federation cash from his vest pocket. He quickly counted out five thousand credits and handed it over to Samus. "Now leave the ship, and get out of here. And don't try any funny business because I've got a gun on me too."

Samus counted out the cash and stuffed it in the inside pocket of her jumpsuit. "Wouldn't dream of it," she grunted as she and the animals turned and walked away. In her mind, she was already working out the most efficient way to return in the night and hotwire one of the other ships.

As she walked with the etecoons and dachoras toward the main part of town, she could tell the excess gravity was really getting to them. They are all dragging their feet as they walked, and she could hear their stomachs rumbling more frequently. She had completely forgotten etecoons and dachoras needed to eat like humans did. The mercenary had long ago been trained to go without food for long stretches of time and frequently forgot to eat unless Elisa or someone reminded her.

Thinking about Elisa back home on Earth made her sad. Knowing what she knew about being a fugitive, she doubted she would ever get to see her partner again and wished she had at least a chance to talk to her, but she knew the phone lines would all be tapped. Communication with Earth wasn't safe now.

After a while, Samus came across what looked like a small restaurant and bar, and she figured it was as good of a place as any to stop and rest. The animals needed to eat, and she was not feeling so great either. From the chill she felt to the ache in her muscles, she knew she had a fever and needed to rest. So far there were no other signs of human life or anywhere to buy medications on this planet.

As they entered the restaurant, another slug-like creature showed them to a booth and holoscreen menus appeared on the table's surface. Samus selected the language she wanted, as did the etecoons as they talked over their options with one another. Samus wished she could understand what they were saying. They all entered what they wanted to order into the screens and waited for their food to come out. Samus hoped eating would make her feel at least a little better, but she didn't want to count on it.

She was just starting to get impatient with out long her meal was taking to come out when three new patrons entering the bar caught her eye. Two of the creatures who entered were tall beings. The larger of the two had the head of a lion with a thick black mane and the body of a man. There were large feathery wings on his back like Samus had seen in pictures of angels. The other being who looked to be of the same species was smaller and lacked a mane. She had the head of a lioness and the body of a woman, but her eyes were all white as though she were blind. She, too, had feathery wings on her back, and both of the lion-creatures were dressed in what looked like black leather oufits.

The being in the middle of their group, however, was the one Samus was the happiest to see. As far as she could tell, the woman was a full-fledged human. She was a tall black woman with long, natural hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She was wearing the same sort of black leather outfit as the other two creatures, but she had the insignia of a lieutenant over her left breast. All three of the beings were very muscular, and after looking around the place, they headed straight for the bar.

Samus watched them for a while, noting the way they moved and interacted. From what she could tell, none of them were Terpsichordian, and they were likely just passing through. Their outfits were like a uniform, suggesting they were all part of the same crew, and by the side arms they carried and the way they sized up the room, Samus was certain they were illegal cargo smugglers. After her meal came, the bounty hunter picked at it a little before informing the animals to stay seated as she headed up to the bar.

The human woman noticed Samus approaching, and soon all three pairs of eyes were trained on the bounty hunter.

 _"Qu'est-ce que tu veux?"_ the woman asked as Samus approached.

"Um… excuse me?" Samus stammered, not understand anything the woman said and realizing there might be a language barrier between them despite their species.

" _Qu'est-ce qui ne va pas?"_ the woman demanded, looking annoyed.  _"Tu ne parles pas français?"_

"I'm sorry… I don't know…"

"Do you at least speak English?" the woman asked in an accent that sounded similar to the language she had just spoken.

"I do," Samus replied. "I speak a few different languages, but I didn't recognize the one you were just speaking…"

The tall lion-man laughed a deep, booming laugh, and Samus realized that he was at least eight feet tall.  _"Thibodaux, tu penses qu'elle est intelligent ou stupide comme une bête?"_

The woman turned to the lion-man, looking annoyed.  _"Je pense qu'elle est un demi-humain, alors tu peux fermer la bouche parce-que peut-être elle a d'argent! Et nous avons besion d'argent!"_ The woman turned back to Samus and looked over the bounty hunter's ragged appearance with disdain. "What do you want?"

Unsure what had transpired between the woman and the lion-man, Samus figured she would just try being straightforward. "I'm looking for a ship, a ride off of this planet, and I'm looking medicine, human medicine."

The other woman's face remained blank. "What's your deal?"

"I'm a fugitive. I'm just looking for a berth," Samus replied figuring it would be easier to stick as close to the truth as possible. "I stole some animals from a lab, liberated them." She gestured to the etecoons and dachoras. "They're with me. I can pay, and I can work once I get the medicine."

The woman looked Samus up and down. "You look like death warmed over. What plague are you carrying?"

Samus shook her head and gestured to the tear in the abdomen of her jumpsuit. "No plague. I'm injured, and it's infected. I just need antibiotics, nothing else. I can pay you for those."

"You with the Feds?"

"No. Not at all."

The woman looked over her shoulder at the lioness-woman with the white eyes. "Azrael, is she telling the truth?"

The lioness stared Samus down, and the bounty hunter got the impression that she was not actually blind. Suddenly, her eyes began to glow white as she scanned Samus's form. "She's telling the truth."

Samus had to swallow back bile realizing the bullet she had just dodged. She was glad she had opted to stick to the truth, even though she had omitted a few parts. At least if that lioness creature were some kind of living lie detector, she wouldn't have picked up on anything.

"You got a name?" the human woman asked, and Samus realized she couldn't be truthful with this question, but she also got the feeling most people out here didn't use their real names anyway.

"Yeah," Samus replied. "Mack. Stevie Mack."

The woman chuckled and extended her hand. "Lieutenant Elouisa Thibodaux." She pointed to the two lion creatures as she firmly shook Samus's hand. "Azrael and Rocco."

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Samus said, nodding to the two aliens. They nodded back but did not say anything. She figured it was in her best interest to come across as non-threatening as possible right now and let the crew members think they would have the upper hand if a battle broke out. She turned back to Lieutenant Thibodaux. "So do we have a deal?"

"You don't ask many questions, Stevie Mack," the woman replied. "Don't you want to know who we are?"

"You have a ship. You have somewhere for me and the animals to stay, and you have human medicine. I don't need to know anything else."

Thibodaux smiled. "That's the right attitude. And yes, if it were up to me, I'd say we have a deal assuming you really can pay." She looked over the bounty hunter's bloody, torn clothing one more time. "Looks can be deceiving, after all. But yes, if you have the money, and you can pull your own weight on the ship, you can come with us. Try anything remotely funny, and you'll find yourself outside of an airlock so fast, it'll make your head spin. Got it?"

Samus nodded.

"Good," Thibodaux said with a grin. "We'll take you back to the ship and have a sit down with Captain Charbonnet and see if he approves. If he does, you're in, and if he doesn't, you're out."

Samus smiled politely, knowing all three of them thought they could beat her single-handedly. "That sounds fair."

She did not know what her next course of action would be, but right now, all she was worried about was getting what she needed and a place to stay where she and the animals would be safe. Smugglers' ships were notorious for their advanced cloaking systems, and she could not think of a better way to avoid the Federation's detection than temporarily teaming up with people who were professionals at it while she strategized.

 


	10. Chapter 10: Dreamboat Annie

Smugglers' ships had never been known for their ambiance, and this one, the  _Dreamboat Annie_ , was no exception. A simple gray vessel, it was large enough to house the crew, the cargo, the engines, and maybe one or two passengers who might be looking for a cheap place to hold up for a while. It was old and kind of dingy looking from the outside, but the inside was fair enough, mostly dark steel plated walls with attempts here and there to make it look homey. The most noticeable touch was the red carpet and Christmas lights that someone had installed in the main hallway leading up to the Captain's quarters.

Samus figured that the crew had been on this ship for a while given that they had attempted to spruce it up a little inside even if they wanted to keep the outside as unremarkable as possible. She thought the light strings were tacky, but she was no interior decorator herself. After all, her bedroom on her last ship had been a gun closet with a bed in it. She had encountered ships like this before, older model cargo ships. The name of the ship class escaped her, but she thought it was "lightning bug" or something like that.

Lieutenant Elouisa Thibodaux led the way to the Captain's quarters, and Samus followed her silently with the etecoons and dachoras right behind her. Taking up the rear were the lion-headed aliens, Azrael and Rocco, and Samus knew they were keeping an eye on her from behind to make sure she wasn't trying anything shady. They had already patted her down for weapons outside the ship, and fortunately, it was the one time she was not carrying anything. Of course, she could activate the powersuit whenever she pleased, but they did not have to know that.

The fever was getting worse, and Samus thought everyone looked like they had hazy auras around them now. When Thibodaux knocked on the Captain's door, sharp pains shot through Samus's head. She tried not to show her discomfort, ignoring the inquiring stares of the dachora. She still felt confident in her ability to take on the whole crew in the event a fight broke out, but she had to admit she wished she had a place to lay down and rest for a little while.

When the Captain came to the door, Samus gave him her full attention, noting the way everyone stood up straighter in his presence. Captain Charbonnet was a tall human man. His skin was very dark, and his hair was in long dreads. The way he wore his black leathery uniform with the Captain's insignia over the left breast made him look very regal. He was a very muscular man with sharp eyes that acknowledged everyone in the corridor before fixing themselves firmly upon the mercenary. Samus estimated that he and Thibodaux were about the same age she was if not a couple of years younger.

 _"Qui est-elle?"_ he asked, his eyes still on Samus.

"This is Stevie Mack," Thibodaux said and then gestured to the animals. "She is a fugitive of the Federation, some kind of eco-terrorist or something. She apparently stole a bunch of animals from one of their labs, and they're looking for somewhere to lay low for a while. She's got cash."

 _Eco-terrorist?_  Samus thought to herself. She had been called a lot of things in her life, but that had never been one of them.

"She's sick," Captain Charbonnet stated matter-of-factly, looking over to Thibodaux. "Have you thought that perhaps whatever she's carrying could infect the crew?"

"It's an infection," the lieutenant replied. "She was injured on her journey and is also seeking medical aid."

The Captain nodded, looking Samus up and down once more. He was trying to get a read on her, but her face remained stoic. "Very well. If she can pay, she can stay. Any enemy of the Federation is a potential friend of ours."

"Wait," Samus called as Captain Charbonnet began to turn away and head back into his quarters, "what about the antibiotics?"

He looked at her and raised his eyebrows as though surprised she had interrupted and addressed him directly. "As to your medical issues, we will leave those up to Chance."

 _Up to chance?_  Samus thought, suddenly furious and nervous as he disappeared back into his chambers.  _I need that medicine! I can't just leave this up to chance!_

She was so distracted by her anger as she glared at the door that she missed Thibodaux turning away and walking back the way they had come.

"Stevie Mack," the lieutenant called after a few minutes. "Are you coming or not?"

Samus looked at her, not sure what her next move would be. Her vision was blurring and she was feeling light-headed. "Where are we going?"

"Where do you think? To show you to your quarters and get someone to take a look at you."

"I thought the captain said we were just leaving it up to chance?"

Thibodaux snickered as she looked back at Samus, and the bounty hunter got the acute feeling there was some joke she didn't understand. It didn't sit right with her, but she did not say anything as the lieutenant led her through a plain steel corridor and knocked on a metal hatch.

After a few moments, the hatch opened to reveal a strange humanoid creature. He looked like a pale, young human man, but he had big, round, golden eyes and pointed ears like an elf. He had mostly white hair with a tuft of silvery-gray on top, but the most remarkable thing about him was that he had the gray and white striped tail of a lemur. Dressed in a white lab coat, his slight form looked almost comical with his tail and bright eyes. He looked between Samus, the etecoons, and the dachoras before turning his attention to Lieutenant Thibodaux and grinning.

"New passengers, Tibs?" he asked, sounding genuinely excited at the prospect.

The lieutenant nodded. "Yeah, and one of them's sick so I figured coming to see you would be the first stop." She gestured to Samus and the animals. "This is Stevie Mack and some animals she stole. Stevie, this is Chance. He's our onboard medic amongst other things."

"Oh," Samus said, immediately feeling silly about her reaction to the captain's statement. "Things make a lot more sense now."

"Nice to meet you, Stevie!" Chance beamed as he reached out a hand toward Samus. She shook it tentatively, not sure what to make of the enthusiastic young man. "Hey, I bet you're a semi-human, aren't you? That's awesome! I am too! It's great to finally get another one on board here!"

Samus raised her eyebrows in surprise. She had met other semi-humans over the years but never one that resembled a lemur-species. With her new claws and fangs, she was surprised that Chance had recognized her as part human at all, and she wondered if maybe she did not look quite as inhuman as she thought she did.

"Nice to meet you as well, Chance," she said, trying to get a look into the room behind him, but the sudden eye movement made her head hurt and her vision blur.

Then, surprisingly, Chance turned to the etecoons and dachoras and began making similar sounds to the etecoons' language. As though they understood him, the little blue etecoons began to jabber excitedly and bounce up and down.

"Well," Lieutenant Thibodaux said with an amused smile, "I guess you guys will get along just fine without me."

Chance grinned at her. "Oh we definitely will!"

"Good," she said as she and the lion-headed aliens turned and walked away. "But don't get so caught up playing with those little alien things that you forget about Mack."

The medic looked suddenly from the etecoons to Samus as though realizing for the first time how pale she looked and the way sweat was beading on her forehead. "Oh, Stevie, I'm sorry…"

The mercenary shrugged. "I'll be fine. I just need some antibiotics, and I can take care of myself."

"That's no problem," the semi-human said, stepping out of the way to let Samus and the animals through the hatch. "Come inside, and I'll see what I can do."

Samus hesitated at the thought of stepping into the enclosed room, but she didn't have much of a choice. The room was much larger than she had initially thought, half of it looking like a simple bedroom and the other half looking like a makeshift infirmary. There was a glass cabinet with various types of medicine bottles and a big gray chair she assumed she was supposed to sit down in. There were other medical kits and equipment, and it made her think of her medical bay back on her own ship before it had crashed.

"How did you know how to speak to the etecoons?" Samus asked as she sat down in the patient chair.

Chance laughed as he walked over to a countertop and put on a pair of gloves. "That's easy. We're from the same planet."

The mercenary looked to the dachora, who nodded.  _"It's true,"_  she said in Chozo.

"What happened?" Samus asked, realizing she didn't know what planet the etecoons and dachoras had even come from.

"Oh, you know," Chance replied, shifting uncomfortably. "There was a human colony there years ago but then the Pirates attacked and took over. Some of us got away. After the war, some of the indigenous species went back, but then the Federation wanted to reclaim its human colony so a lot of us got booted out again. The ones that didn't… a lot of those species ended up getting treated like animals and taken away for research. I was half human so they left me alone."

"The Federation did that?" For the first time, it hit her why the etecoons and dachoras had been in captivity on the B.S.L. and how close they had come to being X hosts. She was so angry thinking about it that she almost didn't notice Chance was about to draw her blood. "Hey, wait!"

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking confused as he held the phlebotomy equipment. "I just want to check your blood so I know what kind of medicine to give you."

"It's just…" Samus bit her tongue, not sure what to say. She didn't want anyone on board the ship to know her blood was acidic, lest they begin to consider her a threat. Instead, she unzipped her jumpsuit and showed him the wound on her abdomen. It had gotten very painful, red, and inflamed by this point, and it was warm to the touch. "Look, you can see it's clearly infected. Just give me some pills and let me be on my way."

He stared at her body, his normally big, golden eyes now looking like they were bulging as he looked over her wounds and the plethora of scars and old burn marks that covered the mercenary's body. Samus felt suddenly self-conscious and zipped her jumpsuit closed, annoyed that her injuries were still visible through the tatters.

"How did that happen?" he asked after a moment. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare but… how did you even survive that? How are you up and walking around right now?"

"It's not that bad." Samus always felt embarrassed when these sorts of conversations came up. "Really, I've been in much worse shape."

He looked at her with concern. "Tibs didn't see any of this, did she?"

Samus assumed he was referring to Lieutenant Thibodaux and shook her head. "And I would appreciate you keeping the extent of my injuries a secret."

Chance nodded, still looking worried. "Did the Federation do that to you?"

"What?" The question surprised Samus. She had not thought about it like that before. "Well… sort of. I guess. Some of them are from trying to escape with the animals. Others are from… someone they were paying to hunt us down. So I guess, yeah."

Chance growled softly in his throat. "Figures. You and Calline will probably have a lot to talk about."

Samus wanted to ask who Calline was but decided to put that on the back burner for now. "Chance, when I met him, Captain Charbonnet said 'any enemy of the Federation is a potential friend of ours.' What did he mean by that?"

The semi-human placed his phlebotomy equipment on the counter and took off his gloves. "We may be a weird-looking bunch, but one thing everyone on this ship has in common is that we've all had bad run-ins with the Federation, especially its recent imperialism spree. We're not fans. So you're a fugitive for stealing animals or something, and normally people would want nothing to do with you, but we like having the opportunity to kind of stick to the Feds. Tibs and Char won't mind giving you guys a berth for a while until you get back on your feet."

"You're not afraid of bounty hunters?" Samus asked, wondering if she was pushing the envelope a bit too far.

"Nah, they don't bother much with cargo ships unless they have a reason to. Even then, they aren't hard to buy off. This deep in space, everyone generally needs something, and odds are, we have it."

Samus was curious as to exactly what type of cargo they were carrying, but she didn't say anything.

"So," Chance began, looking back at her, "you don't want me to draw your blood. I'm guessing there's something you don't want me to know, and I get it. I don't like the idea of people mapping my genome either. Most hybrid species don't. I'll assume you usually just take human meds? I can just give you some of those in pill form. They won't work as fast as if I gave them to you in IV form, but they'll probably get the job done."

"That would be ideal." Samus thought she felt the room shift suddenly and gripped the arms of the chair. The fever was probably getting worse, and given her genetic make-up now, she had no idea what it would do to her.

Chance counted out a couple dozen pills and placed them in a bottle that he labeled "Stevie Mack" and was about to hand them to Samus when a strange animal appeared suddenly, springing from beneath the bed covers in the other half of the room. Samus jumped up as a small, red fox creature ran up to her. It had large brown eyes and a very fluffy tail that seemed to branch off into six loose curls. It was only about two feet tall and probably weighed as much as a small mid-sized dog. A tuft of hair similar to its tail adorned its head, and its belly was white.

The fox creature stared up at Samus as the etecoons and dachoras looked on in confusion.

"Vul-pix!" it said in a high-pitched tone as it looked her up and down. "Vulpix!"

"Excuse me?" the mercenary asked, wishing she had not stood up so quickly.

"Oh hey, Vulpix," Chance said as he brought the medicine bottle over and handed it to Samus. "I was wondering if you would come out and say hello to our new guests!"

Samus looked between the medic and the fox.

"Vulpix!" it said again, its ears perking up.

"Um… hello, Vulpix," Samus said, crouching down to get a better look at the creature. "Is your name all you can say?"

"Vulpix!"

"All right then… I'm Stevie. Nice to meet you."

"Vulpix!"

Chance laughed as he listened to the awkward exchange. "Vulpix says 'nice to meet you too.' She's not always social with new people, but she must have liked something about you to come out and introduce herself."

Samus smiled. "I'm kind of an animal person. Never seen one like this before though."

"Yeah, Vulpix is from out in the Kanto Sector. Not a lot of traffic out that way, but her home planet was where I stayed for a while after the Federation took over Clio."

Samus was intrigued. She had never heard of that planet before, and it was rare to find a planet she had never heard of. "Clio? Is that where you lived with the etecoons and dachoras?"

"Yep." Chance smiled sadly. "It's a nice place. At least, it was before the Feds put a colony there. Now they call the place K-4B, and it barely resembles the lush forests that were once there."

The mercenary paused for a moment, wondering what her own home planet, the one that had been destroyed in a Space Pirate raid, had been like before the Federation had put a colony there. "Clio… I'll remember that name."

She pet Vulpix on the head for a while before standing up again. The movement was painful given the damage to her abdomen, but she waved off the concern of Chance and the dachora.

"We should probably get you to your room," Chance said as he walked toward the hatch. "If you'd like, I can give you something for the pain too."

Samus shook her head as she followed him back out into the corridor. "That won't be necessary. I have a high tolerance to pain."

He just nodded as he and the little Vulpix walked with her to another hatch a little ways away. Someone had lined the floor of the corridor in this section with forest green carpet, and it seemed like a strange contrast to the steel walls.

Scanning a card key, Chance opened the hatch to another room as the rest of the group followed him inside.

"It's not much," he said as he turned on the lights and gestured to a simple twin bed, a wooden dresser, and a barren chrome desk with a mismatched chair, "but this is the passenger's quarter."

Samus nodded as he handed her the card key, and she walked over to the bed. It was made with what appeared to be army-issued bed coverings, and it reminded her of her old room on her ship before Elisa had come in and fixed it up.

"It'll do just fine," the bounty hunter said, noting a small bathroom. "How much do I owe you for the medical care?" She still had nearly three thousand credits left after paying for their meal at the restaurant and paying Thibodaux for the room.

Chance waved off the question and shook his head. "Just get better, and then we'll talk about that. I don't want to charge you if the pills don't work."

Samus nodded. "Thank you."

He then looked like he had an idea, went into a drawer in the dresser, pulled out a cup and filled it with water from the bathroom sink. "So you can take your meds," he said, handing it to Samus.

The bounty hunter smiled as she took it, popped a couple of the pills into her mouth and washed them down with the water. "Thank you again."

"It's no problem. We hybrids gotta look out for each other, right?"

It was not a concept Samus was familiar with, but she nodded anyway and set the empty glass on the dresser. "I should be getting some rest now."

"Of course," Chance agreed. "If you need anything, let me know. Dinner is at 18:00, and I have plenty of women's clothes if you need any."

"The clothes of former passengers?"

Chance shifted uncomfortably, his tail curling around his body. "Some are. Most are mine. Dresses just look better on me, and they're easier to wear when you have a tail." He looked up at Samus sheepishly as though waiting for her reaction.

She just chuckled and smiled. "I've never been one for dresses myself, but clothes that are loose around the middle sound good right about now, and I can't wear this torn up, bloody thing forever."

"So you don't think… I'm weird?"

Samus shrugged. "I've been mistaken for a man more times than I can count. Didn't even realize humans were a species that experienced sexual dimorphism until I was a teenager, and I've never understood the amount of emphasis society puts on that."

Chance grinned, his tail uncurling. "You're really cool, Stevie. And for the record, I have no idea how anyone could confuse you for a man."

"Heh." Samus mentally chastised herself for forgetting who she was supposed to be. "Depends on what I'm wearing."

"Understandable. Well, I'll leave you guys alone to get some rest. You must be exhausted." He and Vulpix turned to leave as he said something to the etecoons and dachoras and then looked at Samus. "Goodnight, Stevie!"

"Goodnight, Chancey."

He smiled as he disappeared through the door, and Samus breathed a sigh of relief that she and the animals were alone at last. Tiredly, she looked over to the bed and peeled off her bloody flight suit. She was just in her panties and sports bra as she let down her hair and crawled under the covers. Normally, she would not relax so easily in a strange environment, but given the circumstances, her body was begging her to rest in a way she could not refuse.

She was just about to close her eyes when she felt her companions all staring at her. Looking over to the etecoons and dachoras, she smiled. "All right, you guys can get in too."

The little blue aliens bounced excitedly as the dachora laid down beside her as she had done the night before. Two of the etecoons snuggled up to her warm body as they had on the other ship, and the final one snuggled back into her arms as she hugged it. Samus drifted off to sleep feeling oddly peaceful and secure surrounded by the animals as she thought of her dogs back on Earth.

 


	11. Chapter 11: These Dreams (Go On When I Close My Eyes)

_The corridor of the B.S.L. was dark, making the shadows cast by the overgrown flora look even more imposing than they might have been otherwise. Only the dim auxiliary lights lit this sector of the station, although she could not recall exactly which sector she was in at the moment._

_Samus walked slower and more quietly than she normally would on a mission like this. Her senses were on high alert as her heart pounded in her chest, each dark corner housing a potential threat to her life. This was not her usual state. She was not used to being the one hunted or knowing that there were so many organisms nearby that could kill her without so much as breaking a sweat. Her arsenal was a skeleton of its former self, and her once great armor was thin and lacked enough energy reserves to see her through a real fight._

_It was a strange feeling that came over her, one she had not felt in years. Fear. Fear for her own life. Underpowered and outgunned, she would not stand a chance if she ran into her Other. The SA-X. A being with her strongest abilities and a thirst for her blood. Not since her earliest encounters with Ridley had she actually feared a creature in this way. And she feared it not only for herself, but for the potential it had to inflict its mindless wrath upon the universe._

_The bounty hunter was not sure how much time had past when she shot open the hatch and stepped into the room. Unlike the corridors she had just traversed, there was no sign of flora or fauna here, no sign of the X parasites or any life. Dark steel plated the walls, and the auxiliary lights were dimmer here, as though she were on a vessel long deserted and having depleted most of its emergency power. It seemed out of place given that the B.S.L. had only bee out of commission a few hours._

_She did not have time to think about it, however, as the hatch opened behind her once more and she barely had time to look over her shoulder and dodge the ice beam shot that flew her way. Heart racing, Samus only got a brief look at her enemy before she turned and ran full speed as far as she could. It was a surreal experience to see the golden orange armor of the Varia Suit, her Varia Suit, hunting her down like an animal. She knew that armor was the last thing so many beings had seen before they met their end by her hand, and she wondered if she too would be gunned down by that same figure._

_She tried to run as fast as she could, but she felt strangely heavy. She could hear its heavy metal footsteps approaching behind her. Though they seemed slow, the footsteps never sounded like they got any further away despite her sprint. As she ran, the ground began to quake beneath her, and before she could find anywhere to hide, she tripped over nothing and fell to the floor._

_As she sat up and turned to look back, she could see the SA-X approaching, slowly and deliberately through the dimly lit room. Knowing she could not outrun it now, Samus raised her arm cannon, but as she did so the cannon and the blue armor of her Fusion suit flickered and vanished before her eyes, leaving her in only the dark blue jumpsuit beneath. Try as she could, she could not reactivate the suit or even get up as the SA-X came closer and closer. She was frozen where she sat._

_But as the SA-X approached her with its cannon raised, the being did not seem to be focused on her but rather something in the distance behind her. When it was so close it should have killed her already, Samus looked over her should to see what it was staring at. Her eyes grew wide as she stared down a corridor that had only just appeared. At the other end of the hall was Adam, the real Adam in his full armor armed with his pulse rifle as he had been the last time she saw him. And Samus suddenly knew why this room looked so different than the rest of the B.S.L. She was not on the B.S.L.; she was back on that derelict space vessel from two years earlier. And the creature that stood over her now was not the SA-X._

_Turning back, Samus looked up the form of armored figure as it stared at Adam in the distance, cannon raised and pointed at the General. And to her horror, it was not the pupil-less, inhuman eyes of the SA-X, but rather her own that looked out of the visor. Words lost themselves in her throat as she tried in vain to stand and to call out to Adam, but it was too late._

_As she tried to scream for him to run, an explosion rang from the other Samus's cannon as she let a super missile fly directly at the General. The air around him combusted as the blast hit, blowing him and the whole corridor up in a great conflagration that only Samus seemed immune to. As her screams rang out, they were lost in the thunderous explosion._

A cold sweat dripped from Samus's body as she screamed, clutching the etecoon tighter to her chest. Her hair was soaking wet as her whole body curled into a tight ball. She was trembling and screaming, shouting Adam's name as she squeezed the etecoon. Even as she opened her eyes, she was in a panic, completely inconsolable and unaware that she was in the bed surrounded by the alien animals who all stared at her with deep concern.

"Adam…" she choked out, sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest as she buried her face in her arms. Her throat burned from screaming, and her body ached like she had the flu. She was shaking terribly and so confused about where she was that she did not even recognize the animals.

_"Hatchling,"_  the dachora called to her in Chozo, but Samus did not seem to recognize her or the name. She just stared at the bird in a daze, breathing quickly as her heart raced.

"Lady," a voice said suddenly in her ear, and she sat up straighter as she recognized the voice.

"A-Adam?" she gasped.

"Yes, Lady. It's me."

She looked around but could not see him, even as she heard his voice in her ear.

"A-Adam? You're alive? Where are you?"

The voice hesitated for a moment. "No, Lady. I'm still only an AI. I think you may have been having a nightmare again."

Samus paused, taking a moment to steady her breathing and look around her. It was a slow process, but she finally started to recognize the etecoons and dachoras. She knew she was in a bed, but she could not remember where they were.

"Lady?"

"I'm okay, Adam," she said, her voice a little stronger despite her sore throat. She touched the earpiece she had forgotten she was wearing and remembered it was connected to the AI's compact. "You're right. I was just having a nightmare. It's okay." She looked to the animals as they stared at her with a mixture of fear and concern. "I'm okay, guys. Really. It was just a nightmare. I have those… sometimes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Samus shook her head until she remembered he could not see her. "No. I'm all right. I'll be fine. It's just a nightmare. Not like I've never had one of those before."

Adam was about to reply when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Stevie?" Chance's voice called. "Stevie, are you okay?"

"I'm all right!" Samus called back, but the way her voice broke, she knew she did not sound very convincing. Slowly, she stood, but she felt so shaky and unstable on her feet that she had to grasp the nightstand for support before walking over to the door. Her swollen abdomen hurt terribly, and she could only hope the antibiotics were working.

"Stevie?" Chance asked as Samus opened the door and peered out at him. "What happened?"

Samus looked the lemur creature up and down, noting that he was in a floral nightgown with his tail sticking out of a hole in the back. "Nothing. Just had a nightmare. Probably a fever dream. I'll be fine."

Chance looked at her skeptically, his big golden eyes unable to hide his concern. "You were screaming bloody murder. I thought something had happened, like you had fallen or your wounds had reopened."

Samus shook her head. "No such luck. Just a nightmare, nothing more."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She could tell he was honestly concerned about her, and knowing how Elisa had told her she sounded waking up from a nightmare, she understood why. "I just… saw an old friend. I watched him die…"

Chance nodded slowly. "In the dream or in real life?"

Samus shifted uncomfortably knowing that AI Adam could hear them. "Both."

"I'm sorry."

Samus shrugged. "Not the first time I've seen someone die. Won't be the last."

The semi-human looked at her questioningly. "You're some kind of warrior, aren't you? Not just a fugitive eco-terrorist. That's why you have all of those wounds and scars. And why you don't want me testing your blood."

"And what if I am?" she asked. "What's passed is past. Right now, I'm just a woman renting a room, nothing more or less."

"Right now, you're Stevie Mack," the lemur-like young man said as he bent down and picked up a box off the floor. "Don't worry, I'll respect that. I won't say anything to anyone about your past or about the nightmare."

"Thanks, Chancey," Samus replied, eyeing the box curiously as he extended it to her.

"It's just clothes and things," he said as she took it. "Toiletries. Things I figured you could use. There's also bandages and other stuff in there that should help with your wounds."

Samus smiled, not bothering to look through the package. "Thanks again, Chancey. I appreciate your hospitality."

Chance smiled sadly. "I've seen a lot of people hurt by the Federation's greed. I guess I'm just sympathetic to that, especially with another semi-human. They hurt you pretty bad."

Samus snickered as she slowly bent down and set the box inside her room. "I've been a lot worse than this, kid. Trust me. If I were really hurt, I'd be out cold, not standing here talking to you. Don't worry too much about me. I'm tough and can take a lot more than you would believe."

"Huh… I'll keep that in mind. I guess I better let you get back to bed though, right? I'll see you in the morning? Breakfast?"

"Don't know when I'll be up," Samus replied, noting that her heart had slowed down enough that she might be able to get back to sleep within the next hour or so. She was certainly tired enough. "I'll look for you when I do though."

Chance nodded. "Sounds good. Goodnight, Stevie."

"Goodnight, Chancey," she said as she closed and locked the door behind her. Tired as she was, Samus didn't give the encounter much thought as she trudged over to the bed and collapsed on it. She had just closed her eyes when she thought of something, sat up, and took two more of the antibiotic pills before laying back down. She was still covered in cold sweat, and she knew it was from the infection as much as from the nightmare.

Cursing herself for letting herself get into this condition, she closed her eyes and thought of Adam, the real Adam, and the way he had actually died aboard that derelict vessel. It was an image she would never get out of her mind, burned in there with the memories of the K-2L massacre.

As she lay awake in bed, she took off the earpiece and set it on the nightstand, not in the mood to hear the voice of the AI or anything he might have to say about the conversation he just heard. The animals fell back asleep long before she did, and as she always did when she thought about Adam's final moments, she wished she had a bottle of whiskey to wash away the memories.

* * *

Once Samus finally got to sleep, it was a long time before she finally woke up again. It had been in the early hours of simulated morning that she had spoken to Chance, and it was now simulated night again in the ship's twenty-four hour cycle. A clock on the bedside table read 00:30, and she figured most of the crew was probably asleep.

Samus got out of bed slowly, popping two more antibiotic pills and carefully making sure not to wake the animals. She walked over to the door and picked up the box Chance had delivered to her before going into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her. Still in just her bra and panties, she looked in the long mirror on the back of the door and assessed her wounds again.

The redness and swelling had gone down considerably, and the abdominal wound looked far less angry and infected than it had last time she had seen it. It hurt less as well, although Samus still felt weak and unsteady, but she figured that probably had a lot to do with dehydration. Dried sweat covered her body and caked in her hair, and she knew it had been nearly thirty-six hours since she had had anything to drink aside from the few sips of water with which she had swallowed the pills. Not able to be picky about her water sources, she filled her glass up in the bathroom sink and downed it quickly before repeating the process. She needed every ounce of strength she could recover.

Once she finished with that, she turned to the box Chance had brought her and opened it up. As he had said there would be, there were several rolls of bandages on top as well as topical wound disinfectants and balms. Beneath that were some basic toiletries and a couple of soft pink dresses, not the sort of thing Samus would normally wear, but she knew it would be either wearing one of those or walking around in her underwear and boots, and she was slightly more willing to do the former.

She showered quickly, drying herself off with a towel from Chance's box and running a brush through her hair. It felt good to be clean finally, and as she treated her wounds with the balms and disinfectants, she found they were surprisingly soothing to her inflamed skin. She only bandaged the uninfected wound on her left shoulder and left the abdominal wound to breathe. She did, however, put sterile gauze pads over the exit wounds through her back in order to keep them clean and safe.

With an awkward grin she noted that Chance had brought her a few female sanitary products as well, but she ignored those. As athletic as she was, her body fat content had never been quite high enough to require the use of such products, and she had had her whole reproductive system removed after the Phaaze incident. The quarantine and medical workup following her corruption had shown several areas of precancerous cells in that region, and that had scared her so badly she had told the doctors just to take the whole thing. She had already had herself sterilized shortly after leaving the army so it was not like she could have had any more children if she had wanted to.

She pulled out one of the dresses, a pale pink cotton dress with an empire waistline and a tie in the back. It was definitely not the kind of thing Samus Aran would be caught dead in, but maybe it was the kind of thing Stevie Mack wore. The mercenary almost laughed when she saw there was a Velcro hole in the back that could be opened up if one needed to slip a tail through it. Slipping the dress over her head, she tied a bow in the back and looked in the mirror. Her muscular, heavily scarred form looked ridiculous in something so delicate and cute, and she was much taller than Chance, so it barely covered her knees and did not match at all with her navy blue knee-high combat boots.

It was a decent way to hide her identity though, to look feminine and non-threatening. Her long blonde hair looked good with the outfit, but it was recognizable enough that she decided she would be better off cutting it off. She had just picked up the pair of scissors, however, when she stared in the mirror and realized she did not have the will to cut off her hair. Her skin was marred with scars and markings from the phazon and xenomorph blood. Her eyes were green-ish now instead of light blue. Her teeth were fangs and her nails were dark claws. Even her blood was acidic. Her hair was the only thing left of her human self, of Samus Aran, the child born on K-2L. She had not cut her hair since her army days aside from a few trims now and again to keep it neat. It was the last part of her body that she had any control over, the last part that had not been taken and altered by circumstance or trauma.

Slowly, she set the scissors down on the sink counter and picked up the hairbrush. With a newfound appreciation for it and protectiveness of it, Samus quietly brushed her blonde hair, savoring the feel of the long locks through her fingers. It may have seemed silly, but she needed to retain a part of herself, even one so trivial. She pulled it up into a high ponytail with two locks hanging loose and framing her face. It was a style she had liked in her early days as a mercenary and she smiled to see it again, like welcoming back an old friend.

Once she was finished, she returned everything to the box and turned out the lights before stepping out of the bathroom and quietly walking over to her nightstand. She was careful not to wake the animals as she picked up her earpiece and Adam's compact. She was healed enough, and she was safe enough for now, so it was time to get to work.

Samus Aran had had enough of running and hiding. She had had enough of being hunted. As she put the earpiece in her ear, she left the bedroom and closed the door behind her, looking both ways as she stepped out into the corridor. She needed to find somewhere she could upload Adam's consciousness and get to work.

"You there, Adam?" she asked quietly, noting there was no one around as she walked through the hall.

"Yes, Lady. As always."

"Good. It's time to get to work. If I upload you to the ship's mainframe, do you think you could use its computer to begin our hunt?"

The AI hesitated. "What are we searching for, Lady?"

Samus smiled. "I need those reports, the ones Adam sent to the derelict vessel he died on. I need to know what information they co-opted so I can begin identifying and tracking down the Zero Host."

 


	12. Chapter 12: The Trigger

While Samus was not exactly sure where the computer's mainframe would be, she had a pretty good idea. She had been on this model of ship before in the past, and a lot of the old transport vessels of this type were laid out the same. Smugglers all seemed to prefer this class since they were relatively outdated and inexpensive now but still spacious and stealthy enough to transport a crew and large cargo. Samus knew she was in one of the passenger cabins on the lowest deck of the ship toward the stern. The crew likely slept on the main deck, and things like the cockpit and systems stations would be on the upper deck.

She walked quietly through the corridor, thankful that she still had her own boots even if she had to wear Chance's ridiculous pink dress. Reminding herself to be thankful she didn't have to walk around naked or in anything torn up and bloodstained, she headed over to what she assumed was a stairwell, and upon reaching it, her suspicions were confirmed. The computer mainframe would likely be in the cockpit toward the bow of the ship, and she decided it would make the most sense to head that way once she got to the top deck so as not to risk waking the crew. She hoped they all slept during simulated night and that no one would notice her snooping around.

The length of the ship was decent but not terribly long, and Samus was grateful for that as her wounded abdominal muscles protested walking around at all. While she was still taking care to move as silently as possible, she had not come across a single crewmember or any sign that anyone was awake. The stairwell had led her up to the secondary engine systems room, and as she headed toward the front of the ship, she crossed through what looked like a galley and dining area. There was a big wooden table with eight mismatched chairs. A threadbare dining rug sat beneath the table, and the room had strings of Christmas lights haphazardly placed throughout, although none of them were lit now.

Passing right on through, she walked across a long catwalk to a chamber that contained the controls for the ship's life support systems and made a mental note of their location. One short hallway after that found her at the heavy steel door she was certain led to the cockpit with the pilot's station and master systems board. The only problem was that the door was locked with a heavy and complex lock, and Samus did not know the code to disarm it.

"What's the matter, Lady?" Adam's voice asked in her ear, startling her as she had all but forgotten about the AI's presence.

"I'm at the cockpit, but the door is locked," she replied, trying to think of how to proceed.

"Surely you didn't expect it to be open, Samus. Not on a ship with non-crew passengers like you."

Samus scowled. "I didn't expect it to be unlocked, but I didn't expect this kind of lock. It's built into the door and dead-bolted through the wall. And I don't have a gun or anything on me to shoot through it with."

"Are you forgetting about the powersuit or are you just worried that it would clash with… your new stylish look?"

"Asshole," Samus muttered, still looking at the locking mechanism built into the steel door. "You can't even see what I'm wearing."

"No, but I did hear Chance explain his preferences to you and then your reaction to what he brought you. I can only imagine how our fair warrior looks now."

"Shut up, Adam," Samus grumbled. "I am in no mood right now for your snarky crap. It's bad enough I've got to put up with any of this at all. I don't need the one person who is supposed to be on my side making things worse."

The AI didn't say anything as Samus continued to examine the lock. After a while, she looked down at the palm of her left hand. Slowly, she took one of her dark claws and sliced through the skin just enough to get it good and bloody. Without the medication she normally took to control the pH of her blood, the acid would have become extremely corrosive by now. Pressing her bloody palm up just above the lock's digital interface, she watched as steam began to hiss from the steel door as the acid ate through it.

"Lady," Adam asked as he heard the hissing steam, "what are you doing?"

"I don't need a weapon," she replied, still watching as her blood corroded the door, "if I am a weapon. Using my blood to burn through the steel."

No sooner had she said that than the lock's digital interface blinked a few times and flickered out with a pitiful beep. Within moments, Samus could hear the mechanisms in the door turning as it unlocked itself in response to the system failure.

"Bingo," she said with a grin. "Looks like something is finally working out in my favor."

"Yes. I suppose. Until morning when the crew discovers there's a hole burned in the door to the cockpit, and you're the only new variable in the equation."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," she brushed off the AI's concerns. "Besides, I still look banged up enough. If they come around asking, I'll just pretend like I'm too weak and feverish to have made it all the way up here." Given the size of the entry and exit wounds from the other bounty hunter's attacks, it was not a role that would require a great deal of acting.

Samus pushed the door open slowly, listening for the hum of any alarm systems, but she did not hear any. Stepping into the cockpit, she looked around. It was dark, but her vision functioned almost normally even with very little light.

The cockpit was much more spacious than those on her own ships. There was room for a pilot and a copilot as well as a couple of seats against the back wall for anyone else who might need to be in there. It felt slightly strange for Samus to stand in the cockpit of a ship that was not designed for a lone warrior. She wondered what it was like to share a ship with comrades, but she knew that kind of life had never been for her.

It did not take her long to find the master systems board and computer mainframe. The metallic panel spanned the wall just behind the copilot's chair. Locating the port, Samus plugged Adam's compact into it and watched as its light began to blink and panels on the wall began to light up.

"Adam, can you read me?" she asked as orange holoscreens began appearing with climate and pressure readings from the ship.

"Loud and clear, Lady. Integrating with the system's mainframe now."

Samus waited a moment as the light of the holoscreens changed from their orange color to a green, suggesting Adam had managed to override the ship's computer. It was not hard for such a well-developed AI to dominate a regular computer system, and Adam seemed particularly well suited to the task.

"Okay, Adam," she said, "what can we do from here?"

"It appears this system has access to the regular galactic internet as well as several dark net channels, some of which appear to go to illegal anti-Federation group based servers."

"That's great. Any way you can use any of those channels to hack into the Federation itself?"

"Give me time, Lady. I'm exploring. I may be a computer, but this is still a whole new world for me."

Though she had never told Adam in life, she was no stranger to illegal dark net channels and the digital underworld, having often used it to pose as a hitman or other criminal type in order to get close to her prey during her bounty hunter days.

"Try to find something called the 'Tiny Dancer.'"

"What?" the AI asked, confused by her request.

"The Tiny Dancer. Sounds harmless, but it's a hidden program in the Styx network. It's the entrance to a lot of backdoor channels, some of which go into Federation systems."

"…You knew of this security breach? Even while you were working for the Federation and you never reported it?"

"If I reported it, they would have closed it up, and then I would have been SOL if I ever needed to use it again. It's one of the channels I was using to try to get to the Zero Host report, but I couldn't get past some of the firewalls. You're an AI though. You can do things I can't."

Adam hesitated. "We'll talk about this transgression later, Samus."

"Just hurry up before anyone figures out we're in here."

The AI went silent as he got to work. Occasionally the holoscreens would flicker and beep, but aside from that Samus had no idea what he was doing or how long he would be gone. After about fifteen minutes or so, the screens went blank for a few seconds but then rebooted with their familiar green light.

"Well, Lady," Adam's voice said in her earpiece, "it seems we're in luck. That was a good tip you gave me. The good news is that I was able to find a secret cache of files from within the Federation's Bioweapons Development Sector. The bad news is that they are heavily encrypted and will take some time to get through."

"Were you able to copy them?"

"Affirmative. What's more, I was also able to pull your records and the information on your crimes and the bounty they've got out for you."

"Terrific," Samus said bitterly, looking back at the door. "Now hurry up and get back into your compact so we can get back to my room before anyone notices that I'm—"

She froze midsentence as she stared at the door. A small figure stood watching her through its large dark eyes.

"Vulpix," the fox-like alien said as it stared her down. "Vulllllpix!"

"Shit," Samus muttered under her breath. "That weird animal thing is here."

"I hear it, Lady," Adam said as the holoscreens reverted from green to orange and the light on his compact glowed a solid red. Slowly, Samus unplugged it from its port as Vulpix stared her down.

"Hey, Vulpix," she said softly, taking a tentative step toward the animal. "Hey, buddy… what are you doing up this late?"

"Pix!" the creature squeaked in an angry tone as the hair on its back rose up.

Samus froze. "Not very friendly, are you?"

"Vulpix!"

"Lady, what are you going to do?"

Samus bit her lip as she stared at the little creature that blocked her way to the door. "You know what I have to do. It's in the way."

"Lady, burning through a door is one thing, but killing the pet of a crew member…"

Samus barely had time to take a step forward toward the fox creature before another, much larger form appeared in the doorway behind it. The mercenary froze as she recognized Azrael, the alien from earlier with the head of a lioness and the body of a woman.

"Good evening," Azrael said in her deep voice as her pure white eyes stared through Samus. "Good to see you up and about… Stevie Mack."

"Azrael…" Samus was not sure what to say or do, but in her mind she was already going into fight mode and figuring out the quietest way to kill the two aliens before her.

"Don't worry about Vulpix," the alien continued, walking closer to Samus. "I doubt she could hurt you very much, and the only one who can understand what she says is Chance. And from what I can tell, he's already taken a liking toward you."

"What do you want, Azrael?" Samus asked, her body tensing like a spring about to snap as the alien came closer.

"Calm down," the lion-headed woman said as she stopped and looked Samus up and down. "I'm not in here to get you into any trouble. If anything, I think you could be a very valuable ally to us. That is, if you are willing to work with us, Samus Aran."

Samus's eyes grew wide as she stared at the alien woman, realizing that Vulpix had already scampered off and out of sight. "How did you know? How long have you known?"

"I didn't know," Azrael replied with what looked like an eerie grin, "but you just told me."

"Damn it," Samus muttered, embarrassed that she had walked into that.

"But that's not to say I didn't have my suspicions before. At the very least, I knew as soon as I met you that you were not some tree-hugger named Stevie Mack. I know when people are lying."

"What do you want with me?"

"Your help, if you'll give it. Don't worry, I'm not looking to turn you into the Feds. And no one else on this ship has any idea who you really are. But as Captain Charbonnet said, any enemy of the Federation is a potential friend of ours. You see, we have ties to the Anti-Imperialist Resistance, and when we learned that Samus Aran had turned on the Federation, we knew it was only a matter of time before you turned up in these parts."

Samus eyed the alien woman warily. "And if I refuse to help you?"

"There's nothing we can do to compel you to do anything. I know you're wounded, but even in the condition you're in, I'm not stupid enough to challenge Samus Aran in a battle. You can just go about being Stevie Mack, an anonymous woman renting a room and biding her time before someone with real power finds her and decides they do want to fight. But I think you would be a valuable asset to us, and in turn, we could be a valuable asset to you. After all, we've been resisting the Federation since you were still being called its lapdog."

Samus took a moment to process what Azrael was saying. She knew Adam was listening in and wanted to get his opinion on the exchange before she made a decision one way or the other. "I'll consider it. But I need to think it over. Right now, I'm just Stevie Mack, a tree-hugging ecoterrorist with a roomful of animals to get back to. Understood?"

Azrael nodded slowly, her eerie eyes never leaving Samus. "Perfectly. This is our secret. No one else needs to know. For now. But don't expect to hide out here forever if you turn down my offer. You're a much bigger liability than what you presented yourself as, and regardless of your powers, I will not let you bring harm to this crew with your mere presence. With that bounty on your head, it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose for you."

"I understand," Samus said, glaring intensely at the other woman. "I'll let you know what I'm doing as soon as I make up my mind."

"That's all I ask."

Samus just nodded, and Azrael stepped to the side as the bounty hunter walked by. No one followed her as she walked back toward the stern of the ship and down the stairs to her cabin, but she was on high alert nonetheless. The thought of Azrael knowing her identity bothered her, and she had half a mind to go back and kill her as well as Vulpix, but she could not bring herself to do that. She may have been a killer, but neither one of those aliens had done anything to hurt her or even implied that they had intended to. If anything, the crew of this ship had been more welcoming to her than anyone else she had met since becoming a fugitive, and she had no desire to harm them or have harm come to them.

As she locked her cabin door behind her, she walked over to the nightstand and gulped down two more of the antibiotic pills. She wondered what kind of alliance Azrael was suggesting they form or whether or not the crew would have any access to anything that could help her go after this Zero Host thing, which she strongly suspected was tied to the Metroid breeding program on the B.S.L.

Her head was spinning with the possibilities, and her abdomen ached painfully.

"How are you doing with those files, Adam?" she whispered, careful not to wake the etecoons and dachoras who were all now sleeping in a fluffy pile on the bed in the corner.

"Have patience, Samus. This is an advanced, high-security encryption."

Samus just nodded tiredly, slipping off the dress and throwing it on the floor. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and shook it loose as she yawned. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. What about the stuff on me?"

"That I can pull up," the AI said as he began to read from the file. "Wanted. Former Federation Contractor Samus Aran for ten million credit bounty. Aran is a highly trained and extremely dangerous former mercenary who is wanted for the destruction of government property, the destruction of the planet SR-388, treason against the Federation, and conspiracy to subvert a military operation.

"Aran is a former private from the Federation Army, but in 2219 she received an Other than Honorable Discharge, stripping her of status and veteran's benefits. During her time in the service, she was diagnosed with an Oppositional Defiant Disorder, which was later upgraded to a diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder upon reaching the age of consent. She has a long history of offenses including several stints in Federal prison. Two years ago she was the only suspect in the murder of the esteemed General Adam Malkovich, but she was acquitted for insufficient evidence.

"Aran is an extremely dangerous and unpredictable individual. It is believed that she may be suffering from a bout of insanity brought on by an experimental medical treatment she received after a failed mission. Regardless of the cause of her actions, Aran has proven repeatedly to be an extremely volatile individual with no respect for Federation law or sentient life. While this may have made her an asset during the Space Pirate War, it seems she has now turned on the same people who once employed her services. If have any information on Aran or her whereabouts, please contact the Fugitive Recovery Commission. Bounty will be awarded for anyone who brings her in dead or alive."

Samus listened silently as Adam finished reading the ad. It took her a few moments to process what he said. "They're making me sound like some kind of murderous psychopath."

"Does that surprise you?"

"No… I mean… most of what they said is technically true."

"But not all of it."

"I mean…" Samus paused. "Yes, I have been in and out of prison over the years, but up until I was arrested for your murder it had been a really long time… and those diagnoses… yes, that's true. That's what one of the Federation Army psychiatrists said after all of the incidents, but I'm not… I'm not a criminal sociopath. I was an angry teenager with a lot of trauma issues. And my discharge was a medical discharge. You made sure to get that for me."

"Actually," Adam said slowly, "that's not entirely true. At the time, I did tell you that you were getting a medical discharge to calm you down, but you actually received an Other than Honorable Discharge. I just assumed you had read your papers at some point but never said anything."

"What?" Samus felt like someone had just slapped her across the face. "Read the papers? I…? No? I took you at your word, Adam! You told me I had gotten a medical discharge because of…  _you-know-who_."

"You were pregnant with Hector. That's true. I tried everything in my power to get you a medical discharge. My superiors wanted to give you a Dishonorable Discharge and send you back to prison. I negotiated up to Other than Honorable, so you would lose your benefits but wouldn't have to go back to prison. I couldn't do anymore than that. Not with your violent history. I'm sorry the real General Malkoivch lied to you, but I assume he did so to avoid hurting you and figured you had actually read your discharge papers and were just grateful he was able to keep you out of prison. Instead of being mad at me, you should be grateful to him for putting himself and his career on the line so many times for you over the years."

"I am grateful," Samus snapped. "There's not a day that goes by that I'm not thankful for everything Adam did for me. The sacrifice he made for me…." She paused. "A machine like you could never understand that. You weren't there. You didn't watch him die! I'm not a killing machine! I'm not like you! I didn't want to pull the trigger!"

By this time Samus's voice had gotten so loud that the etecoons and dachoras were waking up and staring at her, but she ignored them.

"Lady… I'm sorry." The AI sounded confused and surprised by her outburst. "Truly… I never meant to accuse you of being a machine or anything like that. I just didn't want you to be angry at my original. He loved you like a sister, and I know he never intended to harm you."

Samus slowed her breathing as she realized her hand had balled up into a tight fist and her claws were digging into her palm. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to lose it like that. It's just been a rough week with everything since the B.S.L…"

"What trigger?"

"What?"

"What trigger were you referring to? You said you didn't want to pull the trigger. I want to know what you meant."

Samus froze. "I said that? I didn't mean to. Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter now."

"Lady, you've been…  _shaken_ … since your nightmare. Something is wrong. I think you need to talk about it. I think—"

Samus pulled the earpiece off and set it on the desk beside the compact. She could still hear the faint sounds of the AI talking, but she ignored it as she walked over to the bed and laid down, wrapping the pillow around her ears. That machine was the last person she wanted to talk to about her nightmare, and just having him around was digging up a lot of old feelings from back then.

She didn't go back to sleep that night. Her mind was racing and too rattled to even think about that. There were no sedatives she could take here. She wished she had anything, mostly alcohol. Lots of it. Enough that even her tolerance could not stand up to it. Enough to flood her mind and drown out the images that kept coming up, images of Adam and thoughts of her family that she would never see again. Thoughts of her son and her wife. Their animals. Their home. They were gone now. All gone. And she was horribly, horribly conscious of that fact.

It was not until simulated morning broke that the animals woke up and looked at her expectantly, but by that time she had managed to compose herself with no sign of the war raging in her mind.

 _"Food?"_  the dachora mama asked her in Chozo as one other etecoon's stomachs rumbled.

Samus nodded and slipped back on Chance's pink dress. It was time to assume her persona once more. "Yeah. We should probably get some of that. Follow me, and I'll show you guys where the galley is."

As she and the animals left the room, they left behind the compact and its earpiece on the desk.

 


	13. Chapter 13: Shots Fired

"Hector… Hector, wake up!"

Someone was knocking on his bedroom door. The young man drowsily opened his eyes to see Elisa opening his door and looking in at him. He realized he was in the spare bedroom at his mother's house, having decided to stay there the night before after coming to ask Elisa why the Feds were after his mother.

"Hector," the officer called, walking into his room and thrusting a black backpack into his hands. "You need to get out of here. Colonel Maroney is outside the force field, and she brought a warrant and back-up this time."

Hector yawned as he stared at the backpack and rolled unceremoniously out of the single bed. He was just glad he had slept in his clothes and avoided any awkward situations. "Elisa, what's going on?"

The small woman looked up at him, her large brown eyes filled with concern. "They're going to bring me in for questioning."

"Questioning," Hector asked, a note of anger in his voice, "or interrogation?"

Elisa looked at him as though to tell him he already knew the answer to that.

"I won't let that happen," he said, standing up straighter and slinging the backpack over his shoulders.

"There's nothing you can do, Hector. The only thing you can do is get out of here before anyone sees you. It's one thing if they get me, but we can't afford to let them get you."

She gestured for him to leave the room quickly, but he stood his ground.

"You can't just surrender yourself to them, Elisa. You know they're just trying to use you to get to Mom!"

"Hector…" She sighed. "Samus and I talked about this. A lot. I made her promise never to come after me. She knows that whatever they do to me, she is not to come back and let herself be lured into a trap. But if they get you and dangle you in front of her as bait… you know she won't be able to resist going after you."

The young man just stared at his mother's partner for a moment. "You knew about this? Before it happened?"

Elisa shook her head. "No. We just always knew this was a possibility and made a plan just in case. With the way the Federation has been since General Malkovich's death… Hector, you just need to get out of here."

"How can I get out of here without triggering the force field?" He sounded uncertain, but he was walking out of the room now, letting Elisa lead the way downstairs and toward the back door.

"In the backyard, there's a storm grate. It leads to a tunnel under the property and out into the woods behind the house. Run like hell and don't look back. Go back to your college and get Abby Malkovich. Leave your cell phone and everything up at school, and find a way to go up north to Morrigan Sinclaire's property at Blackacre. They don't know about her relationship to Samus. All of the documentation of it was destroyed in the K-2L raid. You'll be safe there for the time being."

Elisa all but pushed the young man out of the back door, but he stood in the doorway refusing to budge.

"What's in the backpack?"

"You'll figure that out when you look in it. But don't stop for that until you and Abby are on your way up north." She seemed to think of something suddenly and turned back to take something out of a nearby drawer. "Take this."

Hector reached out and took the gun she offered him. It was a small handgun, sleek and designed for easy concealment. He was very familiar with it, having trained extensively with Samus and her weapons over the past four years.

"And hope you don't have to use it," Elisa added as she stepped back and closed the door in his face. He could hear the lock turn as she walked away and he stood where he was for a moment just staring at the gun in his hand. Samus's gun.

For a long moment, he hesitated, just staring at the gun and trying to figure out what to do. He knew Elisa was right and that Samus would not be able to resist coming to rescue him, but it felt so wrong to him to run away and leave Elisa to be taken. After a while, he turned away from the house as he heard the front door open. With an almost inhuman speed, he sprinted in the direction of the storm grate.

When he reached it, he knelt beside it as it began to rain. Setting the gun down, he pulled the grate off and put it to the side as he lowered himself into the underground passage. He was just replacing the gate and getting ready to crawl through the mucky water when he heard the sound of shots being fired in the distance.

* * *

As Samus and the animals approached the mess deck and galley area, they noticed that it looked like everyone in the crew had gotten to breakfast before them. Captain Charbonnet sat at the head of the long dining table with Lieutenant Thibodaux to his right. Azrael and Rocco sat at the other end. There was a chair open to the Captain's right, as well as three other empty chairs in the middle.

Samus limped slowly toward the group as they all turned to look at her. She was actually much stronger now, but she decided she would be better off if she pretended her wounds were still much more serious than they were. Appearing as non-threatening as possible seemed like a good way to keep a low profile.

"Well," Thibodaux said cockily, leaning her elbow on the back of her chair as she regarded Samus, "if it isn't Stevie Mack and her stolen animals. Finally back amongst the living, I guess?"

"I dunno," Rocco said gruffly, his massive lion's head staring Samus down, "she still looks half dead to me."

Thibodaux brushed off his comment. "Half dead, half alive, same thing." She smirked as she noticed Samus was wearing Chance's pink dress and had her hair up in her old signature style. "Damn, Tree-Hugger, you clean up nice. You pull off that dress almost as well as Chance does."

"Except for those guns she got on her," Rocco added, noting Samus's scarred up and muscular arms.

Samus smiled weakly, trying to downplay his observation. "Guess hugging trees is a good workout."

Thibodaux laughed and gestured to an empty seat next to her. "I guess it is. But anyway, sit your ass down here and get some grub. You look you're about to keel over any second. You've been here two days and haven't eaten a bite."

"Thank you," Samus said softly, taking a seat beside the lieutenant and noticing for the first time that she could see Chance working on something in the galley kitchen that was set into the wall. The etecoons and dachoras followed and huddled behind her. "What are we having?"

Chance looked over his shoulder and grinned at her. "Just something special I whipped up from what we had in stock."

It took a few awkward minutes of silence before the lemur-creature turned around and brought over a tray of food. During that time, Samus could feel Captain Charbonnet's dark eyes staring into her and trying to figure her out. It was almost as uncomfortable as the knowing look Azrael shot her from across the table.

When he got to the table, Chance set down a tray of what appeared to be strange orange fish that Samus had never seen before, but she realized that they were sitting on slices of toast and wondered if it were some kind of normal breakfast food this far out in the galaxy.

" _Bon appetit_ , you guys," the semi-human said with a grin. " _Les poissons au pain grillé._ "

With the exception of a few nibbles at the restaurant on Terpsichore, Samus had not eaten anything since the waffles Elisa had surprised her with for breakfast the morning before she had left for SR-388. Thinking about that struck a note of sadness, and she wondered what her partner was doing now or what would become of her. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind as she attacked her meal ravenously. Being able to fast for days at a time was helpful, but when she finally got to eat afterward, everything tasted like the best food she had ever had. Chance's fish were surprisingly tasty and seasoned to perfection.

"Wow," Samus said between mouthfuls as she looked up at the cook. "This is incredible."

Chance's pale face blushed, and his long lemur tail wagged. "Thanks, Stevie."

Thibodaux laughed. "Of course it's delicious. He's the best damn cook this side of Serenity."

Even the etecoons and dachoras seemed to be enjoying the plates Chance had set down for them by the empty chairs. The etecoons jabbered something to him in their language, to which he responded fluently.

"Looks like someone found his people," Rocco said, looking between Chance, Samus, and the etecoons. "Some monkey things that speak your language and a little half-human girlfriend."

"Girlfriend!" Thibodaux laughed so hard she almost snorted, and even the stoic Captain Charbonnet smiled in amusement as he looked over at Chance dressed in a yellow sundress and lacey white apron.

Chance rolled his eyes. "Just because Stevie and I are the same doesn't make us a couple. Just a couple of gals being pals, right Stevie?"

It was Samus's turn to laugh. She had never heard anyone talk about her like that before, but it felt strangely comfortable. "Damn straight."

"That's cute," Captain Charbonnet said, his face returning to its usual stoic glare, "but we're picking up a new cargo at 16:00, so Chance, why don't you take your…  _gal pal_ … back below deck and check out how her wounds are healing?"

Chance nodded, suddenly snapping to attention. "Yes, Sir." He turned to Samus as she finished eating and stood up from the table. "Stevie, I just need a minute to make a plate for Calline, and then we can go down."

"Sounds good," Samus said as she looked over to the very full and happy looking alien animals. The little dachora chick was nestled in its mother's back, deep in a blissful food coma.

When Chance came out of the galley, he was carrying a covered plate and a set of cutlery on a plastic tray. Samus wondered who Calline was, remembering hearing the name earlier. She wondered what sort of creature they were and why they had not come up to breakfast.

Chance led Samus slowly back down the stairs and to his medical room. He took care to make sure Samus was feeling up to the trip as she continued to fake her limp until they were out of view of the rest of the crew. He seemed surprised when they got back down to the lower deck and she was walking as well as he was.

When they got to Chance's room, Samus and Chance parted ways with the animals who decided to go back to Samus's room to hang out and nap. Samus followed Chance back to his bedroom/med room and took a seat back up on the medical chair and pulled up her dress so he could assess her wounds.

"Wow!" Chance looked shocked as he pulled off the old bandages and looked at Samus's shoulder and abdomen. "That's… incredible! I've never seen anyone heal so fast in my life! It's like the infection is almost completely gone…"

The mercenary shrugged. "I guess whatever my secondary species is heals fast. I've always just been like that."

"I've never seen anything like it," the semi-human said as he continued to change Samus's bandages and treat her wounds. "But then again," he added, noticing all of her old scars and burns, "I guess with whatever you've been through, you needed those healing abilities…"

"They certainly come in handy." Samus did not like talking about her scars or her enhanced abilities. They were both things that made her feel self-conscious, although she was not sure why. It was probably just because she hated to have so much attention drawn to her.

As Chance finished tending to her injuries, he looked up at Samus. "Hey, Stevie, do you think you could come with me to bring Calline her breakfast? I think maybe you two would get along… She doesn't talk to people really, but I think maybe she'd talk to you."

"Um… sure. I guess." Samus could not imagine why someone would open up to her in particular, but she figured she'd give it a shot. "I'm not really much of a people person though."

"Neither is she. At least, she says she's not. I think she's lonely though."

"Why doesn't she just go up to breakfast then?" Samus asked, sliding off the chair and pulling her dress down. Whatever balm Chance had used on her wounds was oddly soothing, and standing barely caused her any pain.

"You'll see," he said, picking up the tray and leading her out of the room.

They walked a little ways down the corridor, past Samus's room and to what appeared to be another passenger cabin. Chance knocked lightly on the door.

"Calline?" he called, but there was no response. "Calline? I brought you breakfast."

It was quiet for a moment, but then the door opened a crack and someone peeked out of it. The rest of the room was dark as its occupant reached out a human-looking hand to take the tray, but Chance pulled it back just out of her reach.

"Calline, can we come in? I brought someone new, the other passenger I told you we picked up."

"Just give me the food, Chance," Calline retorted in a fairly young sounding voice, and Samus realized that whoever she was, she was not yet a grown woman.

"Please, Calline? Her name is Stevie, and I think you might like her. She's a semi-human like me."

"A semi-human?" the girl sounded intrigued as the door opened a little more, but Samus still could not see her face. "Fine, you can come in, but she better not be an asshole."

"I'll do my best not to be an asshole," Samus said with a half smile. "Promise."

Calline let go of the door, leaving it ajar as she scampered back into the depths of her dark room. Samus wondered if they should turn the lights on but Chance left them off as the two semi-humans followed the girl into the dark room, closing and locking the door behind them.

The found her huddled on a single bed against the back wall, her small area illuminated by a soft reading light and nothing else. Samus could see from her silhouette that the girl was very thin, and she had long, pin-straight blonde hair that covered the left side of her face and went down just past her shoulders. Samus noted that she kept that side of her face turned away from them, and she suddenly had an idea why the room was so dark.

"Here, Calline," Chance said, sitting up on the bed beside her and sliding her the tray. She took it slowly and pulled it closer to herself but did not start eating yet.

Feeling out of place, Samus noted that this room also had a desk and chair and pulled out the chair so she could sit facing Chance and Calline on the bed.

"Calline," Chance said to the girl, "Stevie is with us because she's on the run from the Federation. She rescued some sentient aliens from one of their labs, and now they're after her. They hurt her really bad, but I've been treating her, and she's doing better now."

The girl looked over at Samus, and from the half of her face she could see, the girl looked only about fourteen or fifteen years old.

"Her face is fucked up," Calline said emotionlessly as she noticed the vein-like markings and scars on Samus's face and arms. "That's why you really wanted me to meet her, isn't it?"

"Calline! That's not very nice," Chance said. "You shouldn't—"

"It's fine," Samus cut in, holding her hand up and smiling softly at the girl. "She's right. My face is fucked up. Most of me is."

Calline looked Samus up and down. "You look even worse than I do."

"I don't know what you look like," Samus replied calmly.

The girl hesitated for a moment, but then she leaned over to the desk and turned on another light, illuminating the room and her face. Slowly, she brushed away the hair in front of her face to reveal a thick scar that stretched from her hairline, over her left eye, and all the way down to her jawline. Fortunately, though it ran over her eye, the eye itself seemed intact.

"That's a pretty good scar," Samus said, unfazed by the revelation. "Almost as good as some of the ones I've got." The bounty hunter pointed to a deep scar that wrapped around her upper right arm. "Something messed me up so bad, it broke my humeral shaft almost clean in half. Took a long time before I was out of the sling and cast for that one." She pulled the dress slightly off her right shoulder to reveal an old gunshot wound. "I've been shot a few times but an old friend of mine cut the bullet out of me here, and let's just say the universe is very fortunate he never tried to become an actual surgeon, because he did not do a pretty job."

"Wow," Calline said with a small laugh. "You're a train wreck."

"That's what I tried to tell my son's father years ago, but he kept insisting I meet the boy. He was about your age when I finally did, but that was a long time ago."

"You're a mom?"

"Part-time mom, I guess." Samus shrugged. "He's a grown man now. I hardly see him."

"Wow. You're old."

Samus frowned. "Now you're just being rude."

"Sorry… I just didn't think you looked that old."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the bounty hunter said with a smirk. "Now, quid pro quo. What happened to you?"

Calline bit her lower lip and looked nervously at Chance.

"It's okay." He nodded encouragingly. "Stevie's cool."

"Okay," the girl said hesitantly. "I grew up on one of the Outer Planets. My parents were scientists. I went to some Federation school with other kids from the colonies. We were given a test one day and some kind of genetic thing. I don't remember exactly. They told my parents I scored really high and would be accepted into some kind of program. I thought that sounded cool, like I was smart or something. So they sent me off to there, this boarding school thing.

"Only it wasn't what I thought it would be. It was some kind of military training facility. There were other kids there my age. We were… experimented on. Given some kinds of genetic enhancements. They made me really sick, but they said we were special, chosen. So we trained day in and day out like some kind of military unit. They told us we were serving the Federation and we would be part of some elite super-soldier unit when we were done.

"But they were harsh, and the genetic enhancements… they were really dangerous. Like really dangerous. One kid I knew died, and then all hell broke loose. A bunch of us tried to escape, but they shot at us as we ran away. Something exploded and a piece of shrapnel cut up my face. I don't know how I got away alive, but I think I was the only one who did." Calline looked close to tears as she stared at Samus. "The Federation tried to make me into a bioweapon because they saw something in my genetic code. They tried to make us all into bioweapons! I tried to find my parents afterward, but I found out they had been named as ambassadors and given a huge house and salary. They  _sold_ me to the Federation to make me into a weapon! I'm just a human kid! And now look at me! I'll never be a normal person again. I'll never be pretty or meet anyone… I'm a monster…"

Samus listened quietly to Calline's tale as the gears in her mind began turning. "Calline," she asked, placing her hand softly on top of the girl's, "how long ago was this?"

"Two years ago… I had just turned thirteen."

Samus's suspicions were confirmed. Whatever this operation was had been in motion before the Council had lifted the bioweapons ban. "And do you remember the name of the elite unit they were training you for?"

The girl nodded as tears spilled from her eyes. "Yeah. They called it the 'Federation Force.' And we were working with something called 'Project Zero' or something."

"Federation Force," Samus repeated, making a mental note to ask Adam about it later.

"I hate the Federation!" Calline said, brushing her hair back over her eye and huddling up against her knees again. "I hate them and my stupid parents!"

As the girl sobbed, Samus placed her hand gently on her back. "It's ok, Calline. We're far away from them now. You're okay. You escaped, and you're on this ship with me and Chancey, and we're not going to let anything happen to you."

The girl looked up, chest heaving heavily as she cried, and she let herself fall into Samus's embrace. For a long time, the bounty hunter sat holding the teenage girl as she cried on her shoulder, softly running her hand over her back to soothe her. Chance smiled sadly as he watched the scene, and Samus knew this was why he had asked her to meet Calline. The girl was long overdue was a good cry and for someone to hold her and comfort her the way her parents should have.

It outraged Samus to hear about what the Federation had done to this girl and other human children. If Adam had been alive to hear about it, he would have lost it, having dedicated his life and career to opposing that sort of bioweapons testing. The Federation was no better than the Pirates in that regard.

Even as she held the child, something vicious stirred within Samus. The hunter in her knew what it had to do, and once she was done playing Stevie, she intended to let the Hunter take over once more. The Federation had a lot to pay for in her book, and this had just contributed in a major way to its list of debts.

 


	14. Chapter 14: Walk Through the Fire

Elisa closed the back door on Hector and locked it before turning back to stare into her living space. This was the home she had built with Samus, where they had lived together for years. But her lover would never set foot in its threshold again, and now, more than likely, neither would she. When faced with a treason on this scale, there would be no way the Federation would simply be bringing her in for questioning to try to discern Samus's whereabouts; she would be treated as a traitor herself and subject to the harshest forms of interrogation their sick minds could think up.

She did not wait for Colonel Maroney and her lot to knock before she opened the door, having granted them access through the front of the force field. She knew hiding up in here would do no good, and they would bring down the shields eventually. What she did not expect, however, was for Colonel Maroney to be accompanied by none other than Secretary of Defense Harper herself.

An intimidating woman, Harper stood six and a half feet tall. She was dressed in the blue uniform of a four-star General, and her graying brown hair was pulled into a tight bun under her hat. She looked to be in her mid-fifties with high cheekbones and piercing green eyes that seemed to look right through Elisa as she strode into the house.

"Where is Aran?" Harper demanded without so much as an introduction as Colonel Maroney and about half a dozen troops pushed Elisa to the side to enter the house.

"My guess is as good as yours," Elisa said. "It's not like she called to tell me about any of this, but you probably tapped all the phone lines and know that already."

"Cute, Rodriguez." Harper glared at her. "But I should have figured Aran really was the type of person to just go on the lamb and leave her cute little wifey behind without an explanation."

Elisa didn't say anything, just staring blankly at Harper as a couple of soldiers ran up the stairs and began ransacking the bedrooms looking for clues. She knew they wouldn't find anything. Samus had been too thorough for that.

"Officer Elisa Rodriguez," Colonel Maroney said, coming up behind her and pulling Elisa's arms behind her back, "you are under arrest for treason against the Galactic Federation and for conspiring in acts of terrorism with the fugitive Sam—"

She was cut off suddenly as an animal's roar ripped through the room and something shot out of nowhere, throwing the Colonel to the ground. Maroney screamed as the massive brown dog pinned her and bit into her arm, shaking his head from side to side before finally letting go and striking once more, tearing out her throat as blood shot across the living room carpet.

A shot rang out as Harper drew her sidearm and shot the wolf-like beast in the hind leg. Archer yelped, but he turned with preternatural speed and lunged at Harper before she had a chance to fire off another round. The General's screams mixed with the dog's roar as he bit into her upper arm, tearing skin and muscle clean from the bone as the tall woman also toppled over with the dog continuing to slash at her with his fangs.

The attack was short-lived, however, as a rain of gunfire showered down from the staircase above. All at once, three soldiers took aim and shot at the animal, firing with deadly accuracy to avoid hitting the General in the process. Archer barely whimpered as his body fell limp, his jaws still around Harper's arm as his life left him. Two of the soldiers kicked the body of the dead dog out of the way as they rushed to Harper's aid.

Elisa gasped and staggered backward, adrenaline pumping through her so quickly she almost started to cry as she watched the macabre scene before her in disbelief. She heard one of the men yell as something struck her in her thigh, but several pairs of arms were around her before she could hit the ground, and before she knew it, her arms were cuffed behind her back as she was forcefully dragged out of what was once her and Samus's home.

* * *

Leaving Calline's room was a surprisingly difficult task considering how hard the girl had initially tried to keep her out, but Samus managed to pull herself away eventually. It wasn't that she wanted to leave the girl alone again, but there was something about her plight that struck a nerve with the bounty hunter, and listening to her story had been emotionally draining.

Samus got back to her room to find the etecoons and dachoras curled up on the bed once more, all looking up at her while she came in and took off her dress and boots. Throwing the clothes on the floor, she looked over to her desk to find Adam's compact and her earpiece right where she had left them. It was time to talk to him again, she figured, after having ignored him for so many hours. Reluctantly, the bounty hunter put on the earpiece and picked up the compact as she flopped onto the bed beside the etecoons and dachoras.

"Hey, Adam," she said, putting a hand behind her head as she lay staring up at the ceiling.

"Hello, Lady." His tone sounded irritated, but Samus ignored it.

"Any luck with that file encryption while I was out?"

"Parts of it," the AI replied. "Apparently the reports my original created were about the dangers of crossbreeding species for weaponization purposes. In particular, he wrote about crossing strands of Metroid DNA with—"

"Xenomorph DNA," Samus finished for him.

"Um… yes. And a research team working under him had found that—"

"While xenomorphs and Metroids can't interbreed naturally, their genetic material is compatible through engineering, thus making it possible to create a viable organism that is part Metroid and part xenomorph."

Adam paused. "Yes… You seem to be slightly ahead of me here. How did you know those two were compatible?"

Samus laughed. "First off, hello! Metroid-xenomorph-human-Chozo hybrid freak right here. I think I would know if Metroid and xenomorph DNA were incompatible in the same organism. Secondly, that's what we found on that derelict space lab. 'Metro-morphs'… that's what Adam called them anyway. I personally always preferred 'xenotroids.'"

"So you've seen them?"

"Seen some. Killed some. They were a thing all right… not anymore though. Adam and I made sure of that."

"When you were telling me the story earlier… the one of how my original was killed… you mentioned that you heard a sort of shrieking sound coming from down one of the corridors? Was it one of the xenotroids?"

"Yeah… that was something I'll never forget."

"You began telling me the story of his death… of my death. I was wondering if you would not mind continuing? I know it's hard for you to talk about, Lady, but… I suppose a part of me just feels like I need to know what happened. As time goes on I feel more of a connection to Adam Malkovich, not just in his memories in thought processes but almost as… an identity? Of sorts?"

Samus sighed. "I'm not going to pretend I know what that means or what implications that has for what other artificial intelligences are capable of, but I guess I'll humor you. Besides, probably about damn time I tell someone other than Elisa what really happened up there instead of lying my ass off about it."

* * *

_"I have a hard time believing Zero Host is as simple as a Metroid clone," Adam said as he and Samus stood in the corridor of the abandoned space lab._

_The shrill screech sounded again in the distance as Adam and Samus turned to stare down the hall. At least they no longer needed to decide which way they would go next. The General could feel the anticipation radiating off of the mercenary as images came flooding back to her of her battles with a species she had long believed to be extinct. Without another word, they started in the direction of the shriek, Samus leading the way._

_She kept her arm cannon raised and ready in front of her, the black armor of her power suit reflecting the soft green glow of its lights. Adam followed behind with his pulse rifle at the ready as the sounds of the Metroid-like screeches flooded the hall once more. They were coming up on a door to one of the labs, one protected with a simple blue force field. Samus took a deep breath as she shot through it, prepared to come face to face with her old nemesis on the other side, but that moment never came. Instead, she and Adam stepped into an abandoned laboratory. Shattered glassware littered the floor as fragmented computer monitors blinked in and out, the last of their power finally fading from them. While there was blood on much of the glass and even the occasional bloody handprint, Samus found it odd that there were no bodies._

_She did not say anything to her companion as the boots of her powersuit crunched over the broken glass, and he followed her silently as she shot through another door and they proceeded through it._

_Oddly enough, this door did not lead to another section of the lab but rather something that looked like a massive empty arena. The ceiling was at least thirty feet high, and it was so spacious a horde of aliens could easily have a melee in here, and horror struck her as she realized that was exactly what the room was for._

_Samus turn to look as she saw the hatch close behind her and Adam as an impenetrable blast shield slid over it. She had been in these situations many times, and she knew they never led to anything good._

_"Stay behind me, Adam," the bounty hunter said, stepping protectively in front of the General as she anticipated something to come out at them any moment._

_"Samus," Adam said suddenly, a note of urgency in his voice, "you need to disarm all of your weapons systems immediately."_

_"What?" she asked, turning to glare at him. "Adam, are you crazy?"_

_"Look up there." He pointed to a series of pipes that ran around the perimeter of the ceiling. "This ship is powered with Typhlorian gas. There's a leak in one of those pipes up there. One spark and this entire room could go up like a match."_

_Samus looked up and used her scan visor to assess the damage to the pipes. Sure enough, he was right. It was leaking Typhlorian gas at an alarming rate, and it was slowly filling the room. With much hesitance, Samus finally did as the General said and disarmed her offensive weapons systems, everything from her beam weapons to the missiles and bombs. The only thing she kept online was the ice beam since it would not cause any kind of combustion with the gas._

_"I kept the ice beam online," she said, "but we're in deep shit if we run into anything stronger than an Alpha Metroid."_

_"Agreed," he replied._

_But no sooner had the words left his mouth than a hatch at the opposite end of the arena opened. Samus's breath caught in her throat as a serious of the most horrendous looking creatures she had ever seen came through it all at once._

_Three of them resembled the xenomorphs she had faced on LV-426, but the resemblance ended at their body structures and long, eyeless heads. At the center of their chests were nuclei like those of an Omega Metroid. Their arms resembled those of the mature Metroids as well, with their claws similar to the talons with which Metroids held onto their prey in order to leech the life energy out of them._

_The fourth creature that entered the room could only be described as the equivalent of the Queen of this hybrid species. It walked on all fours like a Metroid Queen, but it had the long limps of a xenomorph. Its massive head looked like it could swallow Samus whole, a combination of a Queen Metroid's head with the high crown of a Queen Xenomorph. It's long sharp tail whipped around behind it as the Queen and the Omegas charged at Samus and Adam._

_Realizing that her partner had no viable means of attack, Samus held her ground in front of him, shielding him from the oncoming hybrid creatures. She fired ice beam shots at each of the three Omegas and one charged ice shot at the Queen, but all four of the enemies seemed unfazed by her attacks. It was only a matter of seconds before they reached her and Adam, and while her first instinct was to dodge the incoming attack, she knew she had to protect the defenseless General._

_Throwing herself in front of him, Samus took the full brunt of two heavy slash attacks from the Omegas and was thrown several meters across the room. Managing to right herself midair, she landed on all fours and rushed at the Omegas who were starting to converge on the General. Firing off several ice beam shots as she ran, Samus leapt into the air and landed full force on the shoulders of one of the Omegas, jerking its head backward with her free hand and thrusting her arm cannon into its mouth as she fired off a charged ice shot._

_The creature staggered backward as she jumped off its shoulders and delivered a flying roundhouse kick to the head of another Omega that was closing in on Adam. As it staggered backwards, she shot a charged ice shot straight into the nuclei on its chest as the creature screamed in pain. She was about to strike it again when something bit down hard on her right thigh, lifting her up in the air and smashing her body into a wall. Samus gasped, and within moments, the beast that held her leg in its vice-like jaws slammed her down into the ground. It continued the pattern, throwing Samus around like a dog killing a rodent while the disoriented hunter was unable to get a good shot in with her ice beam._

_Samus could not see what was going on around her as she was smashed repeatedly into the wall and the ground, but she knew the creature responsible was none other than the Queen hybrid. Her energy tanks were dropping rapidly, and she was concerned that the armor on her leg would soon be compromised, but she did not know what to do. The ice beam was completely ineffective against this creature, but any other weapon she might use would trigger an explosion of the Typhlorian gas that was filling the room. Finally, she realized that she only had one option left._

_Instead of fighting the Queen's grip, she leaned into it, rolling into her morphball form and entering the beast's mouth. It seemed confused at first, but it quickly swallowed her, just as Samus had hoped it would. As she rolled deep into the belly of the beast, she hoped that the Queen's hearty insides would be enough to contain the blast as she laid a power bomb in its stomach._

_As the bomb went off, the Queen screamed its death cry. Chunks of its innards exploded, even blasting holes in it to the outside, but its thick body was enough to suppress the blast and stop it from igniting the combustible gas outside._

_Samus staggered out of the creature's corpse, taking a moment to fall to her knees and catch her breath as she assessed the rest of the battle going on around her. But to her surprise, there was no sign of anyone or anything. All three of the Omegas and Adam had disappeared. The General had been taken while she was preoccupied with the Queen, and a chill ran down her back as she realized for the first time why there were no bodies in the lab._

_Xenomorphs did not always kill their human prey. Instead, they frequently took them back to their nest where they would be cocooned in a gooey wall until their eggs hatched. Crab-like creatures would come out of the eggs and latch onto the faces of the human victims, essentially impregnating them with a xenomorph spawn that would incubate until it burst from the chest of the host organism. Samus had a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach as she imagined that happening to Adam. She had been a victim of forced xenomorph impregnation herself years ago, but rather than kill her, it had been what had caused her to absorb the creature's traits, including its acidic blood._

_She wasted no time in jumping to her feet and running full speed down the corridor from which the xenotroids had entered. There was no way she was losing Adam like that, and even if she could only use her ice beam, she would find a way to fight and bring him back._

_She ran for what felt like hours but was not nearly as long in reality. The ship was like a labyrinth with different sectors that were built to house different organisms. Like the B.S.L., it was a Bottle Ship, a space station carefully built with different sectors housing completely different ecosystems. The pieces were brought in one by one but did not bloom into full-fledged biospheres until they were all pieced together inside. It's fragile but complex nature and unique method of creation had earned it a name reminiscent of the old ship-in-a-bottle models Earth humans had once been fond of building._

_Samus used her scan visor to follow the trail the xenotroids had left and found that it ended in the hatch that led to a sector known as the croysphere, a super-heated area where only the heartiest hot-weather organisms could survive. Without hesitation, Samus shot through the door and ran into the sector._

_But what she had not anticipated was the way her visor blurred out and went into full static. She gasped as she couldn't breathe in her suit and a warning appeared before her eyes that something was causing her life support systems to fail. In a panic, Samus deactivated the suit, exposing her body to the extreme heat of the cryosphere. The bounty hunter gasped in the suffocating hot air, but it was still better than being in her failing powersuit had been. Looking around, she realized the cause of the static and electromagnetic interference._

_All around her were electrical beings similar to the scatter bombus she had faced on Tallon IV. However, these creatures were absolutely massive. They had green and blue nuclei with long electrical beams extending from them like spider legs as they crawled along the walls and ceilings. Samus had never seen anything like them in her life and realized they must have been some type of new genetically engineered species. Without the used of her scan visor, there was no way to know._

_The air scorched her lungs as she stared off down the long path through the cryosphere, lava lining both sides of the room. She could not survive long in this temperature, and she was already beginning to feel its effects as sweat beads rolled down her face, but she knew she had to rescue Adam. If the only way to do that was to run through the super-heated cryosphere without her armor, that was what she had to do. With a deep breath, she took off at a sprint, hoping that her strength would hold up until she could make it to the other side._

_But the run was exhausting and she could feel her strength draining as she went. By the time she reached the hatch to the next area, she was staggering and panting, sweat soaking her hair and body under her jumpsuit. Her vision blurred as she could barely see the control pad to input the code to make it into the next room, and she all but fell over as the hatch opened and she staggered inside._

_This area was also particularly hot but not as oppressive as the one before it. Still, dehydrated and disoriented, Samus proceeded with difficulty, noticing more of the enhanced bombus crawling across the ceiling. Luck finally came through for her when she proceeded through yet another hatch and noticed the cache of leathery eggs._

_The stench of rotting human remains filled her nostrils, threatening to make her sick as the heat only exacerbated the effects. Along the wall, she could see the xenomorphs' gooey cocoon structures filled with human bodies in various stages of decomposition. On the far wall, however, she found the one she was looking for._

_Adam was still alive and still in his armor as he looked up at her, but he was trapped in the wall, just as the corpses were, and there was a leathery egg before him. Slowly, its shell was starting to peel back, and Samus ran at it as fast as her exhausted body would allow her. She could not get to the egg before the hybrid facehugger jumped out of it straight for Adam's helmet, but she threw herself between the beast and her best friend as it latched onto her instead._

_The creature's tail wrapped around Samus's neck as its long crab-like legs encased her head, but she got ahold of it before it could insert itself into her mouth. With her enhanced strength, she ripped the facehugger from her head, tearing off its tail in the process so that it fell limp and released her neck. With a frightening ferocity, she tore, the crab-like creature in half and discarded the pieces as its acidic blood burned a hole in the ground._

_"We have to get you out of here," she said, turning to Adam and using all the strength she could muster to tear apart the cocoon and set him free._

_"Samus," he said, at a loss for words as she freed him. "You came for me… Where is your suit? What happened?"_

_"No time for that," she choked out as she took his hand and led him back toward the cryosphere. "We need to get out of here."_

_He followed silently behind her as she ran, pausing only when she opened the hatch to super-heated area as an alarm on his HUD went off that the temperatures were too high for his armor to handle. Hearing the warning, Samus turned to her friend and lifted him up without warning._

_"Samus!" he called as she carried him and began to sprint through the super-heated area unprotected. "Samus, the temperature in here will kill you without your Varia Suit! Put me down and activate your armor!"_

_But she ignored him as she ran, pumping every last ounce of her strength into her legs to keep them going even as her vision became cloudy and her head began to spin. As she fell and hit the ground, she could swear the room was tilting and tumbling around her as the last of her visual field went dark._


	15. Chapter 15: The Gift

_Samus felt something cold resting on her forehead and on the back of her neck. Something cool and damp was gently wiping her face before traveling down to her neck, shoulders, and chest. Her head pounded painfully and her whole body ached as though she had just put herself through a terrible physical exertion. She tried to open her eyes but immediately felt dizzy and closed them again. Whoever was holding the damp cloth paused for a moment and began gently wiping her cheeks with it again. The cool water felt good, and she felt a large hand under her head elevating it slightly as they pressed a water bottle to her lips. She began drinking automatically, realizing her furious thirst for the first time._

_"Samus?" a man's voice called to her. "Can you hear me?"_

_She responded with a strangled grunt between sips of water. Opening her eyes again, she tried to look for the source of the voice, but she had to close them again as everything felt like it was spinning. She thought she might vomit but kept drinking the water anyway._

_"Samus," the voice said softly, and she realized it must have been Adam. She could not remember where they were but she remembered being with Adam. "You passed out in the cryosphere. Do you remember? You saved my life from the metro-morphs but for some reason you decided to run through the heat without your powersuit. You ended up with heatstroke."_

_"Heatstroke," she muttered absently as she pulled away from the water and let Adam lay her head back down on his leg. Heatstroke would certainly explain the way she was feeling, and pieces of the preceding events were coming back to her now._

_"We were almost out of the cryosphere," Adam continued speaking softly to her as he dipped the cloth in more cool water and continued to wipe her exposed skin. "You were carrying me because my armor would not have held up through the heat, but you passed out just before we made it to the door. I was able to pick you up and get you out of there, but your body temperature was already dangerously high. I found a supply closet and barricaded us in here. There was a sink and a first aid kit with some ice packs so I've been trying to bring down your temperature. Looks like it's working."_

_Samus tried to smile but it was difficult. "Thhank you…" she slurred her words awkwardly. The lack of coordination suddenly frightened her, and she forced herself to open her eyes and look at Adam's face. When he finally came into focus, she could see he was frowning and his eyes were narrowed with concern._

_"I'm trying to cool you down the best I can," he said, "but ideally we would need to get you to a hospital."_

_The bounty hunter grunted again. "No."_

_"Samus, you were out a long time. Your body temperature got up to 107, and I know you can take a lot more than a human can, but that's deadly. You're still showing signs of neurological problems."_

_"Adam…" she managed, trying to annunciate her words as best she could, "we need… to destroy…"_

_"The metro-morphs," he finished for her, seeing what a difficult time she was having._

_"Xenotroids," the bounty hunter replied. "Sounds better…"_

_The General smiled. "All right, they're Xenotroids then, if that's what makes you happy."_

_Samus managed a smile, even if it was a bit lopsided._

_"We can't fight the Xenotroids," he continued, more serious now. "There's Typhlorian gas leaking all over this ship, almost as though it were done intentionally so we couldn't use any weapons. I suspect those green and blue electrical things were the reason you couldn't activate your suit back there. That's worrisome because it seems almost like someone planned that. My armor functioned normally, but if the late scientists on this ship somehow managed to engineer bombus whose electrical signal can disrupt your powersuit, that seems intentional. And it's like the Xenotroids built their nest on the other end of the cryosphere just because you wouldn't be able to use your armor to get through it. I guess for all their calculations, they forgot to take into account the extent of your recklessness…"_

_"And that I'd walk across a fire to save you any day." Samus closed her eyes again, and Adam gently lifted her head once more so she could drink some water._

_"I was scared, Lady. I really thought I was losing you there for a while. I'm still worried about damage to your brain."_

_"I'd be lying if I said that didn't worry me. But if I can activate the Varia Suit, it should integrate with my central nervous system despite any damage. Don't know that I'll be very useful in battle, but it might help me get back to my ship. Then we could get out of here and call for backup."_

_"Unfortunately," the General said, pulling the water bottle away from Samus and setting it down, " we can't do that. The creatures we've encountered so far are simply too dangerous, and we've barely explored this ship so we don't know what else is on here. I can't expose any of my troops to this situation. Ideally, we would stay and fight, but with circumstances as they are, we can't do anything. Even if you could use your weapons, I couldn't risk it in your weakened condition."_

_"So what are you saying?" Samus asked, using all of her effort to sit up as Adam assisted her and helped her move so she could rest against a wall. She almost fell over, but he caught her and stabilized her. "You want to come back when I'm better?"_

_The General shook his head. "You're very sick, Lady. You need to get out of here and to a hospital. But we don't have time for that. This ship and everything living on it needs to be destroyed. It's too dangerous to leave lying around. These are illegal bioweapon experiments, and I don't trust certain factions of the Federation enough to let any of them get their hands on them."_

_"So we blow up the ship and run? Sounds like a normal day at the office to me."_

_Adam smiled sadly. "Once you're in your Varia Suit, will you be able to run?"_

_Samus tried to nod, but it made her too dizzy, and Adam had to help keep her from falling over. "Yes, as long as I'm in the Varia Suit, it should compensate for any neurological damage. It can bypass injured nerves and whatnot so my basic motor functions should be intact. Running I think I can handle, but don't ask me to try to play the cello or anything like that."_

_"Good," the General replied. "There's a main fuel supply room not far from where your ship is docked. If we can create a large enough breach in its containment, it should release enough Typhlorian gas to take out this whole ship."_

_"Excellent," Samus said. "We'll just detonate that and run."_

_"Not quite." Adam paused. "You'll need to use a projectile, something that can fly for a long distance before it explodes, that way you have time to turn and run to your ship."_

_"And you'll come on my ship with me?"_

_"There's the thing… this is a two person job. One person needs to be at the fuel room to open the tank so the projectile can ignite it. There wouldn't be time for that person to out run the explosion."_

_"Stop… stop right there, Adam Malkovich." Samus stared at the General very seriously. "You're asking me to kill you! I can't do that."_

_"Samus, this is the only way. We need to destroy this ship, and we're out of options. This ship is my fault. They took my research and turned it into this. I'm responsible. Besides, it's not like I came here expecting to make it out alive."_

_"But I can't do that!"_

_"Why, Samus? Isn't this who you are? The Protector of the Galaxy? Well, the galaxy needs you now because these creatures pose a threat to every living creature in Federation territory. Innocent people will die, possibly millions of them. Bioweapons like these could trigger a war worse than the one against the Space Pirates. You're the galaxy's only chance at survival. You've always been its… savior of sorts. And if corruption and illicit experimentation are spreading through the Federation like this, the galaxy will need you more than ever. So yes, you can do this. And don't go getting any crazy ideas about sacrificing yourself instead because you're too important, Samus."_

_"But Adam… I love you." Her words fell like a single drop into an empty bucket, absolutely meaningless in the face of the greater reality. And she knew it. Looking up at her friend, she tried to fight against it with every fiber of her being, but she knew she had already resigned herself to what had to be done._

_"I love you too, Lady," he said as he moved the ice pack and gently kissed her forehead. "You've been the best friend and brother a man could ever ask for, and I'm thankful to have had you in my life these past twenty years. Had it not been for you, I would have likely perished in the Space Pirate War just like so many of my comrades. But you saved the galaxy and ended the war, and you bought me that many more years with my family. Your sacrifices and your service, Samus, have made all of the difference. You've saved so many people. Please, let me save you now."_

_As she looked up at him, tears filled her eyes, but she could not bring herself to cry, not now. Not when there was still a mission to complete. "I'll take care of your wife and your daughters. I'll provide for them and protect them."_

_The General smiled sadly. "Thank you, Samus. That's more than I could ever ask for."_

_Slowly, he helped her to her feet. Her equilibrium was terribly off, and he practically had to hold her to keep her from toppling over. Once she was steady enough, he stepped back and she activated her suit. As the golden orange armor of the Varia Suit appeared, it seemed to stabilize her as it integrated with her nervous system._

_"Are you ready, Samus?" he asked as he picked up his helmet and put it on._

_The bounty hunter nodded._

_"Any objections?"_

_"Dozens of them," she replied, "but I understand."_

* * *

"As you opened the fuel chamber," Samus said to the AI as she lay on the bed surrounded by the etecoons and dachoras, "I shot a super missile at you and ran as it exploded. I barely got to my ship in time. The whole research station went up in flames and eventually exploded. I was admitted to a hospital for a couple of nights for the heat stroke. I don't think there was any permanent damage, but I've had brain damage since I was a kid and a thousand concussions since then so it's possible there were some lasting effects and I just can't tell.

"Once I got discharged from the hospital, Elisa brought me home and took care of me. A few days later, I was arrested and put on trial for your murder. I told them I was too sick from the heat stroke and you carried me back to my ship and sent me away before blowing yourself up. My medical records from my hospital stay made that seem plausible and I was acquitted. Only Elisa knows the truth.

"I don't remember most of the six months after I got out of jail. The brain swelling might have something to do with it, but my son was away at school so I'm pretty sure I was drunk for most of that time. I know I was drunk a lot… a lot. Enough that Elisa gave me an ultimatum that either I cut it out or she was taking the animals and moving back to Rosewood. I'd lost too much and couldn't deal with losing her too so I stopped as best I could. I couldn't bear to think I was hurting her, so that was when I told her what really happened. And she just… supported me. And loved me... and somehow, we got through it."

Samus paused and thought about her partner, her heart aching as she thought that she might never see her again. "I paid off your house and both of your daughters' college fees. I made good on my promise there. They even have trusts so that they can access money even now. I did my best for them."

No one said anything for a while as Samus finished her story. The etecoons nuzzled close to her body, and the dachora laid her feathery head across Samus's chest.

"Thank you, Samus," Adam said after a while. "Thank you for everything and for taking care of my family. You did the right thing, Lady. I'm proud of you."

Samus closed her eyes and nodded quietly. "Thank you, Adam. As trivial as it might sound, it really does mean the world to me to hear you say that."

She was about to roll over and snuggle into the etecoons and dachoras when suddenly there was a knock on her door.

"Stevie!" Chance's voice called. "Stevie! We're about to have lunch now, and then the crew is going on their cargo run. Plus it sounds like there's some news breaking in Federation territory! Tibs wants us all up at the mess deck, stat!"

Samus groaned as she rolled out of bed and snatched up her dress from where she had thrown it on the floor earlier. Between telling the story of Adam's death and her encounter with Calline earlier that day, she was emotionally drained and really not in the mood to be around people, especially not while having to keep up the appearance of being Stevie Mack.

Slipping on the dress, she left the earpiece in this time and slipped Adam's compact into one of her boots. It annoyed her that the dress didn't have pockets and she wondered again why anyone bothered to wear such a ridiculous garment as she headed out of her room and up to the galley.


	16. Chapter 16: Seeing Red

The etecoons and dachoras followed Samus as she headed up to the mess deck. She did not feel like being around the crew or anyone else for that matter. All she wanted was to lay back down in bed, cuddling with her furry friends and possibly even talking to the computer Adam. He may not have been her late friend, but she was growing surprisingly fond of him, and it was refreshing to talk to someone who knew her true identity.

When Samus reached the galley and the long table, she noticed everyone was present in the seats they had occupied at breakfast, but instead of eating, they were all watching a holoscreen that had appeared on the far end of the room. Samus approached quietly as she felt the blood run cold in her veins as the holoscreen came into view. It was just a regular news broadcast with a dark-hair human woman reporting, but Samus felt certain her heart would stop as she heard it and saw the imposed image of the blue Dutch Colonial behind her.

_"This morning Secretary of Defense Adele Harper was viciously assaulted when she went accompanied Colonel Maroney of the Galactic Federation Army to bring in a possible witness for questioning in the ongoing investigation of the disappearance of mercenary-turned-terrorist, Samus Aran. The Colonel was going to apprehend a woman who was allegedly a homosexual lover of Aran's at some point, however, the Colonel was attacked and killed by, what witnesses describe as, a large dog. The dog then turned to Secretary Harper, severely injuring her left arm before it was gunned down by the accompanying troops._

_"Harper is said to be in stable condition at a local hospital, but neither her location nor the identity of Aran's alleged lover have been released. With Federation Public Broadcasting, I'm Georgina Orwell reminding you to be on the look out for any suspicious activity, and if you have any information connected to the Samus Aran incident, please call the number on the bottom of your screen."_

As the number appeared, the picture of Samus and Elisa's home was replaced with a picture of Samus herself, although she was pleasantly surprised that they news broadcast had chosen to use an old photo of her, one taken prior to her Zero Mission to Zebes. She realized how young she looked in it and how vastly different she must have looked now.

_"Up next, is your drinking water filled with lethal levels of radiation? And how will this affect your weekend travel plans? All this and more after the break."_

Thibodaux flipped off the holoscreen, and it flickered once and disappeared. The Lieutenant then turned to look at Samus, and everyones' gaze seemed to follow hers.

"Is it just me," Thibodaux asked, scrutinizing Samus closely, "or could Mack have been a dead ringer for Aran if she was like twenty years younger and her face wasn't so fucked up?"

Samus frowned. "That's the second time someone's called my face fucked up today."

Rocco laughed his deep laugh as his lion's eyes gazed over Samus. "Relax, Mack. You're still easy on the eyes. You've just got all that stuff going on." He gestured around his own face where her phazon and xenomorph markings were. "Just a dead giveaway you're not a full human."

"I'm assuming you didn't just call me up here to insult my looks," Samus snapped, taking her seat at the table as the animals followed behind her.

Captain Charbonnet, who up until this point had been stoically watching the scene unfold, leaned forward in his seat. "Since I'm assuming Calline won't be joining us, I think it's time to begin this meeting. Mack, nothing here particularly concerns you, but you should listen up anyway. We'll be making the cargo drop at 16:00. Terence and his crew will be meeting us on the planet PG-190. It's human-friendly, uninhabited, perfect spot for this sort of meet-up. Mack, Chance, and Calline will stay onboard. Chance will keep the infirmary ready just in case. Mack and Calline will stay in their rooms until it's over."

"Is that all?" Samus asked, getting impatient and feeling more irritable than usual after viewing the news broadcast. There were a lot of thoughts swirling through her mind, and she felt like she was going to explode if she had to keep up the poker face much longer.

"Mack," Captain Charbonnet said, staring at her sharply, "you do not interrupt in the middle of a briefing. That said, after this next part, feel free to leave and get on to whatever is so much more important that cargo drop safety protocols."

Samus raised an eyebrow and grumbled under her breath, but she stayed in her seat. She got the acute feeling of déjà vu back to her Army days when she had been a less-than-exemplary soldier.

"Anyway," Charbonnet continued, shooting her a warning look, "we can not ignore the elephant in the room. The rogue mercenary Samus Aran remains at large. I don't know how or if this will affect us, but other crews are reporting increased Fed and bounty hunter activity all over the Outer Planets and even out of Federation Territory. While I know the bounty on her head is certainly sizable, every single person on this ship is expressly prohibited from engaging Aran in any capacity. That should go without saying. She's unstable, unpredictable, and a killing machine capable of annihilating entire planets. That said, her acts of treason against the Federation may be a boon to us."

Thibodaux laughed. "I'll say. Looks like the Federation's lapdog finally turned around and bit the hand that fed it."

Even Chance grinned. "If there's one enemy the Federation doesn't want to have, it's Samus Aran! Wouldn't it be cool if she ended up being on our side?"

"Fat chance of that," Rocco spat, looking around the room. "Fuckin' merc is a psychopath. Blowing up entire planets. I'm sorry, but if Aran and the Federation clash, I'll be glad to see one of them finally go down, and I don't give two shits which of them it is. Let's see if her lesbo-lover turns her in."

"Who knew she swung that way?" Thibodaux chimed in, glancing at Chance. "Looks like you and her got that in common, eh Chancey? Man, that bounty hunter is gonna be pissed though when she finds out they killed her dog."

"Good on the mutt taking out the Colonel and tearing up Harper though," Rocco said with an approving nod. Then he turned to Samus. "What about you, Mack? Thoughts on your younger, prettier doppelgänger being at large?"

Samus's face was red, and her hands were balled into fists under the table. She was furious, not so much at the crew as at Maroney and Harper for what they had done to her family. And at herself for being stupid enough to think Elisa would be safe if she left her behind.

"Seriously, Mack," Rocco asked again, "any thoughts on your crazy twin?"

Samus stood abruptly, earning the stares of everyone in the room, including the silent Azrael who watched her with interest.

"No," the bounty hunter said, as she turned and stormed off. There was a rage building within her, and she could barely contain it. She needed to hurt someone or something, and she needed to do it soon. She ran down the hall too quickly, fleeing back to her bedroom as though she had something to hide. She imagined all eyes on her back, staring at her accusingly, wondering what her connection could be to the fugitive Samus Aran.

"Lady," Adam said in her ear, but she ignored him, slamming the door behind her as the etecoons and dachoras followed her into the room. They curled up on the bed as she made a beeline for the bathroom and locked the door.

She turned on the bathtub faucet as she sat down on the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. She could not hold it in any longer.

"Archer…" she sobbed, thinking back to the shaggy brown dog, her loyal companion for nearly five years. Tears streamed down her face as she remembered adopting him from the shelter, one of the first outings she had ever been on with her son. She recalled negotiating with Adam to let the dog stay with her at his house when she had first visited Earth, and she remembered how her loyal companion's unconditional acceptance had comforted her when she had first discovered her xenomorph characteristics.

"Archer…" She cried in a heart-wrenching, raw, and ugly kind of way. Tears soaking her face and hiccupping to where she could hardly breath, snot flowing. Her face was so red it was nearly violet as it contorted in all manner of ways as guttural sobs erupted from deep within her. Her heart was breaking as she saw the form of her best friend, her beloved companion, and imagined him being gunned down by Harper's goons.

And Elisa. She cried just as hard for Elisa, the woman who had stayed with her during her arrest, her alcohol-fueled depression, the difficult missions, and the changing climate of the Federation. The woman she loved, who had given up her career in Rosewood so she could live with Samus in Willow Green. The woman who had cared for the animals who had become like their children, and who had even accepted Samus's own child as a part of her family. Samus had never known what she had done to deserve that kind of love from her partner, and now that woman was being held by the Federation somewhere, most likely being interrogated in the most brutal of fashions for her association with Samus.

It was too much to bear as Samus curled tighter and screamed into her knees as the tears continued to flow. For once, she did not know what to do. She had no idea how to help. She felt like she was falling deeper and deeper as everything unraveled from her grasp.

It was only once her throat was raw from screaming and her body was exhausted from being wracked with sobs that she quieted down and tried to slow her breathing. It just hurt so bad, like a hole deep inside her. The way it always hurt when someone she loved died, a hurt that had grown unfortunately familiar to her over the years.

"Lady?" Adam asked again after a few minutes of quiet. "Is there anything I can do?"

Samus closed her eyes and shook her head, sighing when she realized once again that the AI could not see her. "No. Not unless you can change the past."

"My condolences on the loss of your pet."

"He was more than a pet, Adam. Archer was practically glued to my hip for five years. I even used to take him with me into space sometimes. He was a good boy… he was such a good boy, and I loved him so much."

"I've never been much of an animal person myself, with no offense to our friends in the next room, but I'm trying to understand, Lady. And I'm here if you ever want to talk."

Samus smiled slightly. "You're sweet for a machine. But there's nothing to talk about."

"As to the matter of your partner, Officer Rodriguez, are you planning anything regarding her?"

Samus sniffled and closed her eyes as more tears ran silently down her face. "I need to rescue Elisa. I don't know how, but I need to get to her. And I have to get to Earth to protect my son…"

"Earth?! You're seriously considering going to Earth? Samus, be reasonable…"

"No one is safe, Adam! I thought I took care of everything, but clearly no one is safe! Not if they're associated with me!"

"Samus—"

"It was a mistake, Adam! A mistake to think I could have a family and a life and live in a house on Earth! Archer's dead because of me! Elisa and my son are in danger because of me, and fuck it all, you're dead because of me!" Samus jumped to her feet as she yelled at the compact. "I can't sit on this ship safe and cozy while anyone else takes a bullet for me! I need to fight back!"

"I admire your sentiment, Lady, but—"

"STEVIE!" Chance's voice screamed urgently from the hall as he banged on her door. "STEVIE, HELP!"

Samus turned off the faucet and rushed out of the bathroom, ignoring the stares of the etecoons and dachoras as she opened the door to her room.

"Stevie!" Chance looked up at her, wide-eyed and frantic, but he seemed shocked at the tear-stained appearance of her face. "Stevie, what's wrong?"

"Never mind me," Samus said, wiping her face on her forearm. "What's wrong with you?"

"The crew, out on the cargo run…" The semi-human seemed out of breath as though he had sprinted all the way to her room. "Bounty hunters…. Char got shot… they're looking for her…"

Samus's heart skipped a beat as the words came out of his mouth, and it suddenly reignited her rage. She didn't bother to say anything as she broke into a run down the hall, heading straight for the ship's entrance and exit hatch. Enough people had taken hits for her today. She didn't know how any bounty hunters had tracked her down to here, but she was going after them and they were going to pay.

Samus practically flew out of the ship, jumping straight into the heat of battle and activating her powersuit midair. She could see where Captain Charbonnet lay, Lieutenant Thibodaux covering him with her pulse rifle as Azrael and Rocco took to the front lines. There were three armored bounty hunters advancing over the rocky terrain, all of them humanoid in nature and wearing similarly shaped white armor. The carried black rifles that fired red beam energy.

A few of Azrael and Rocco's shots landed their targets as the lion-people took cover behind a couple of massive brown boulders, but the fire-fight was getting intense, and Samus knew a puny crew of cargo smugglers was in no way equipped to fend off a team of bounty hunters. Without even thinking about it, she fired off a barrage of super missiles as the advancing hunters, and as they hit their targets, the hunters were thrown backward with an incredible force. Samus was seeing red now, and all of the rage she had been holding back was exploding out of her now as she rushed at the hunters, firing missiles as she ran.

They tried shooting back with their rifles, but they were no match for Samus's attacks, and after a few more missiles landed, the three hunters turned and ran. Fueled by fury, Samus followed after them, picking off the slowest of the three with a well-placed ice beam shot to his feet as he toppled over. She wasted no time in pouncing upon the fallen hunter and tearing off his helmet with her free hand. What she saw beneath it surprised her.

A human man stared back at her with fear in his dark, round eyes. He looked to be no older than twenty-five.

"Please," said the man, "don't hurt me. I'm sorry. Please just don't kill me…"

"Shut up," Samus said, crushing her knee deeper into his chest plate. "You idiot, what did you expect to happen to you if you came after Samus Aran?"

"S-Samus Aran?" he looked genuinely surprised as he regarded her. "Y-you're Samus Aran?"

"Why does that surprise you? You attacked these people looking for me, didn't you?"

His eyes grew even wider. "N-no, Ma'am. I'm not stupid enough to go after Samus Aran. I value my life too much."

"Really? Than who the hell were you searching for? Bounty hunters in these parts don't randomly target cargo ships."

"They do depending on the cargo they're carrying."

Samus raised an eyebrow under her helmet. "And what cargo was this ship carrying that you decided you needed to gun down its crew?"

"Our target. This ship is carrying a woman with a hefty bounty on her head. And escaped experiment."

"What kind of experiment?"

"A soldier from the Federation Force. Goes by the name of Calline LaRoux."


	17. Chapter 17: Thunderbird

As Elisa slammed the backdoor in his face, Hector hesitated, just staring at Samus's gun in his hand and trying to figure out what to do. He knew Elisa was right and that Samus would not be able to resist coming to rescue him, but it felt so wrong to him to run away and leave Elisa to be taken. After a while, he turned away from the house as he heard the front door open. With an almost inhuman speed, he sprinted in the direction of the storm grate.

When he reached it, he knelt beside it as it began to rain. Setting the gun down, he pulled the grate off and put it to the side as he lowered himself into the underground passage. He was just replacing the grate and getting ready to crawl through the mucky water when he heard the sound of shots being fired in the distance.

He paused, gun gripped tightly in his hand. His first instinct was to run back and fight, but he knew he did not stand a chance. As much as he hated to admit it, there was nothing he could do. Running in half-cocked with some naïve heroic intent would only make things worse for Samus and Elisa in the long run. If Elisa was still alive. He had no idea who had fired a gun or why. One thing was certain though; he couldn't look back. He had once learned the hard way that ignoring those types of orders, even with the best of intentions, could get people killed.

With a heavy heart, Hector put the gun in the waistband of his jeans, crouched down, and crawled through the storm drain. The mucky dark water stained his jeans and got into his sneakers. His socks were soaking wet, and the tunnel was so dark, he could barely see his hands in front of him as he crawled through the dank slush. Some kind of rodent's chatter echoed through the passage, and more than once, he crawled headfirst into a spider's web. But he kept on going. If nothing else, he had to get to Abby Malkovich and move her somewhere safe.

He did not know why Elisa thought the Feds would go after him and Abby, but maybe she had just been being thorough. Abby's younger sister, Evianna, was away at a prestigious nursing college on Calliope IX, so there was no way to get to her, but Abby attended Hudson University with Hector. It was only a few hours drive away.

When he reached the end of the tunnel, he almost bumped into a wall. It was so dark he could not see it until the last moment, and as he reached forward, he could feel the water flowing into another grate below him. Curious, he reached over his head and felt the ceiling. It was too dark to see anything, but he could feel another grate over his head, too clogged and covered in damp leaves to let any light or water through. Taking a moment to listen for anyone overhead, Hector waited before he finally reached up and pushed the overhead grate off.

Light immediately flooded the tunnel as a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky. Thunder boomed in the distance as the rain fell on Hector. The forest floor was drenched and muddy as he pulled himself out of the storm drain and stood up. As he went to replace the grate, he realized that it was not actually clogged at all, but it had been artificially sealed and buried under leaves and dirt to hide it. Samus had probably done that when she designed the escape tunnel. He could just imagine her going through it in her morphball form.

Lightning flashed again, closer this time, and Hector realized he needed to get out of the thick forest. Any one of those trees could potentially be struck in a storm like this, and the muddy ground was beginning to flood. Pulling the hood of his windbreaker over his head, he broke into a light run as he fled from the rain. He had no idea where in the forest he was, but he knew it was not a terribly thick patch of forest and at the very least, he had to run in the direction opposite Samus and Elisa's house.

He traversed the forest for the better part of an hour, having to slow to a walk as the ground became treacherous and the torrential rain made it impossible to see the ground in front of him. Still, he kept his head down and kept going forward. He was glad he had thought ahead of time to park at his father's house instead of Samus's that way the presence of his car would not raise any suspicion.

When he finally got out of the woods, he found himself on a half-flooded street as thunder continued to boom and cars drove too quickly despite the poor visibility. Being careful to avoid traffic, he waded through knee-deep puddles on either side of the road as he headed for the side streets. Once he saw street names he recognized, he knew how to find his father's house.

He was completely soaked by the time he reached his car, thankful that it was a hovercar and would not be deterred by the flooding roads. At least the rain had washed off most of the rancid mud that had stained his clothes, but he was sure everything, including the backpack, was soaked through. His feet and socks made squishing sounds inside his sneakers every time he took a step.

The first thing he did once he got into his car was place gun in the center console and close it up tight. It was as wet as the rest of him, but he had a feeling Samus would not have purchased a gun that couldn't stand up to this kind of weather. Thinking of Samus made him nervous though. He didn't know what state of mind she was in or what kind of enemies she might be facing wherever she was. He knew he shouldn't worry because if there was anyone in the galaxy capable of evading the Feds, it was Samus, but it still made him nervous.

The drive back to college was mostly uneventful, but the roads were still treacherous and Hector had to drive slowly to compensate for the lack of visibility. A couple of times, the rain got so bad he had to pull over and wait out the worst of it. He wanted to text Abby and let her know he was coming, but he knew he shouldn't. He didn't want the Feds to have anything in writing.

As he pulled over for the third time in the parking lot of a dive bar off the interstate, he decided he was probably better off getting rid of his phone and things altogether. As the rain continued to pour outside, he got out of his car, took out his phone, and slipped off his watch. Walking over to a storm drain, he crouched beside it and dropped all of his digital items in there. If the Feds wanted to track him by his cell signal, they'd end up on a wild goose chase. He thought about abandoning his car as well and hitchhiking the rest of the way up, but he thought better of it.

As he got back into his car and pulled back out onto the interstate, he could not keep his mind from drifting back to Elisa and the sound of gunfire from her house. He didn't think she would pull a gun on anyone from the Federation, but he wondered if she had and that was the real reason she had wanted him to run. He had a terrible sinking feeling as he thought about it.

When he finally made it back to their college, he parked in one of the student lots and decided to walk the rest of the way to the apartment he and Abby shared a few blocks away. He was careful to hide the gun in his windbreaker, though he doubted anyone walking through this storm would have noticed him carrying it. As he came up on their building, he waited around the corner for a few minutes looking for any signs of suspicious activity, but there was no one around. Taking his key out of his pocket, he headed around the back of the restored Victorian house to the back door that led to their basement apartment. As he stepped inside, he found Abby in the living room staring right at him.

"Where have you been?" she demanded. Abridgette Malkovich was a tall young woman with long, straight brown hair. She resembled her father in a lot of ways, particularly in her mannerisms and tone of voice. "I've been calling and texting you for hours! I've been so worried!"

Hector just looked at her for a moment, so glad to be inside and warm and surprisingly overjoyed just to see her face and hear her voice. "Are you okay, Abby? Did anything happen?"

She looked at him with concerned confusion. "I'm fine. But I heard about your mother and—"

"Abby, we need to get out of here," Hector said, walking past her and down the hall into their bedroom.

"What? What's going on, Hector?"

He opened their closet and began pulling out suitcases and throwing them on their bed. "Samus is a fugitive. I was at her and Elisa's house last night, but this morning some Federation agents came and took her away. She told me to escape and come here to get you. We have to get out of here."

"What?" Abby looked very worried as Hector began throwing their clothes haphazardly into the suitcases. She slowed him with a wave of her hand and began to fold the disheveled clothes. "Is Elisa all right?"

"I don't know… I heard gunshots. I escaped… she insisted on it. Insisted that I escape and that I come get you…" His voice strained as though he were trying to rein in his emotion but as he thought again of what might have happened to Elisa, he felt disgusting about leaving her behind.

"Hey," Abby said, grabbing his wrists and looking him in the eyes. "You did the right thing. Elisa's a cop. She knows how this works better than you do. And what Samus did… it was really bad. I don't mean it was the wrong choice, but she's in some really hot water, and I know she wouldn't want you mixed up in that, so whatever Elisa told you to do, if you did it, that's what counts."

Hector stopped what he was doing and pulled Abby close into a tight hug. She rested her face against his firm chest despite his soaked shirt.

"Thanks. I think I needed to hear that."

Abridgette smiled as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. "Hey, we're in this together. Wherever you're going now, I'm going too."

Hector nodded quietly. "I'll tell you when we get in the car."

Abby nodded as she removed her watch and phone and left them on the dresser. She knew what he was thinking. Most likely, he was afraid their apartment had been bugged. She was certain it had not been, but she figured they would rather be safe than sorry. Her car was a much safer place. Since her father had been a General, he had managed to hook her up with some pretty good anti-tracking and signal scrambling hardware, and all she would have to do was activate it once they were on the road.

They finished packing in silence, and Hector changed into dry clothes, bringing his wet ones in a plastic bag so as not to leave behind any evidence. While Abby had her back turned at one point, he grabbed a small box out of one of their drawers and hid it in his jacket's inner pocket next to the gun.

They ran to Abby's little white hovercar during a lull in the rain, threw their suitcases in the trunk, and jumped in the front seat. Abby decided to drive since Hector seemed tired from the events of the day already. As they pulled out onto the interstate, she activated her signal scrambling hardware and had the car do a quick diagnostics check just in case. When everything turned up clear, she turned to her boyfriend.

"Okay," she said as they drove down the partially flooded but mostly empty freeway, "where are we going?"

"Blackacre," Hector replied. "Elisa said to go up to Morrigan's estate. We'll be safe there. She's got all sorts of force fields and scramblers and things that were installed when cousin Maggie's son was born. Remember how those Purist terror cells wanted to take him out for being the result of a human and semi-human mating? Well, all of those protection systems are still up and running. We'll be safe there."

"Mmm," Abby hummed as she drove. "We would be pretty safe there."

"But?"

"But what?"

"You seem unhappy with that idea. Why?"

Abby was quiet for a few moments as she thought about it. "I don't want to be safe. I want to take action."

"What?"

"I want to take action… Samus is out there alone fighting against the Federation all by herself. Elisa is being interrogated somewhere. My sister is out on Calliope IX with no way to get in touch with me. I don't want to be safe while they're in danger."

"Well… what do you propose we do then? We can't hunt down Samus."

"No, but I know you wanted to." She grinned wickedly. "I know you, Hector. Before you even got to Elisa's house, you were already formulating an idea in your mind about how to go after Samus. What was it?"

Hector frowned. "Not cool, Abby."

"Come on," she pressed. "You're mother was a weapons hoarder. I'm sure her house and her ship weren't the only places she had them stockpiled. You know where they are, and you know how to use them. And whatever plan you had, you told Elisa about it but she talked you down."

Hector grunted, irritated in part because he knew how stupid that sounded and in part because he knew she was right. "You know me too well, Abby."

"I know." She grinned as they drove along.

"I don't want to put you in danger though. Samus wouldn't want me risking my life, and I know your father—"

"Stop." She frowned. "Stop right there. Don't speak for my father. I know what he wanted for me and Evianna. For us to be protected and safe at all costs. For us never to know battle like he did. He died for that, Hector. He sacrificed himself to protect us, so don't tell me what he would have wanted because I already know. But I can't live my life in fear and hiding because he thought that was what was best for me. I'm the daughter of General Adam Malkovich, and I don't want to hide. I want to carry on his work. And if that means rescuing Elisa or finding Samus or just generally trying to resist these bad factions gaining power in the Federation, that's what I'm going to do. So are you with me?"

Hector hesitated. "I was on a mission once with my mom. LV-426, remember? She told me to stay on the ship so I'd be safe. I disobeyed her, and she got really, really hurt because of it."

"And I'm sure Samus has done a lot of things that have gotten innocent people hurt over the years. I know my dad had to make tough calls and sacrifices, ones that haunted him for the rest of his life. But that doesn't change the fact that right now we have a choice in front of us: hide or fight. I know what I choose. The question is, will you join me, or am I dropping you off at Morrigan's house and leaving you there?"

Hector looked at Abby, his eyes wide in disbelief. He debated with himself internally for a long time before he finally gave in. "My mom has a second ship on Aliehs III. She reported it destroyed over a decade ago so there's no record of it. It's got all sorts of weapons and cloaking devices on it. She used it once to sneak onto the Space Pirate Homeworld. It's virtually undetectable when the cloaks are up, and it's filled with weapons. Every type of gun and bomb you can think of. It's got living quarters and a medical bay, most advanced ship I've ever seen. And I'm authorized to pilot it. She said she did that just in case there was ever an emergency."

"Well this is an emergency," Abby chimed in.

"One problem," Hector said. "How do we get off Earth without being detected and head out to Aliehs III? How do we even know where Elisa would be held or how to go about finding Samus?"

"That's where me being a General's daughter comes in handy."

"Oh?"

"I know it seems like the whole Federation is going to hell in a handbasket right now, but I still know some people, people in the military who still oppose this new regime. People who were friends of my father. I bet you anything I could get one of them to take us out into space and over to somewhere close enough to Aliehs III that we could get there without being tracked."

"You…. You have those kinds of connections?"

Abby nodded. "What, just because you're the one with the famous mother you think you're the only one who knows some cool tricks? There's a Marine base not far off from here, and you know whose fleet is stationed there this month?"

"I don't know…"

"Admiral Dane's." Abby grinned again.

"Who?"

"Admiral Dane… you know him, right? He was the one who led his troops on the mission your mom was on that time during the Phaaze incident? It was literally the same mission when she went to the Space Pirate Homeworld, the one you were just telling me about."

"Oh, I guess I never got his name."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I guess his name wasn't one of the juicier details of that mission, but yeah, he and my dad went way back. He was at the funeral, and he came over a few times to visit my mother after that…"

She looked sad as she thought of that time, a time Hector remembered well. General Malkovich had been killed in action, and Samus had been arrested for his murder. While she had not stayed in jail long, she was like a completely different person when she got out. For roughly half a year after that, he had avoided Samus, choosing instead to stay with Abby and comfort her. It was during those months that he and Abby had moved in together and he had grown particularly protective of her. Even once Samus had more or less gotten back to normal, he had chosen to spend most of his free time at his and Abby's apartment with her.

Now as they drove along in silence, he took her hand and held it as they stared out at the open road before them. He didn't know what the future had in store for them or if there was any way they could pull off their crazy half-baked plan without getting killed, but if she wanted to fight, he would be beside her all the way. He smiled quietly to himself as he pressed his hand against his jacket and felt the gun and the small box in the inside pocket.


	18. Chapter 18: Stand Back

"Calline LaRoux?" Samus demanded as she crushed her knee deeper into the white armor plating on the bounty hunter's chest. "Why the hell is there a bounty on the head of a Federation Force soldier named Calline LaRoux?"

The human man's face looked up at her in terror and confusion. "Why do you care? It's not like you can cash in on the bounty anyway. You can't go anywhere near the Feds given what they're offering for your head."

Samus thrust the muzzle of her cannon into the side of the man's head and stared down at him through her opaque visor. "When someone with a gun to your head asks you a question, it's a good idea to just answer and not get cute about it. So answer me. Why are the Feds offering a bounty for someone from the Fed Force?"

His body was rigid and Samus could feel him trying to inch away from the cannon, but she kept it held tight to his temple. His already pale face was white as a ghost as he lay helpless under her knee. "I don't know completely. She's some kind of experiment. They were trying to make super soldiers or something. Used kids because their hormones and genetics were easy to manipulate, more likely to accept the enhancements. A bunch of them escaped one night. They caught a few. Gunned down others. LaRoux was the only on unaccounted for. They want her back. She's apparently walking around out there with some really nasty alien genes spliced into her."

"What else do you know about this experiment?"

"I don't know." The bounty hunter gulped, and Samus doubled down the pressure on his sternum. "All right," he choked out after a few seconds. "It had a name… I forget… I think it was Project Zero or something."

"Project Zero," Samus repeated, remembering the name from earlier. Calline had said she had been part of the Federation Force in a group called Project Zero.

"Yeah, but look man, I really don't know all the nitty gritty about it. I just got a tip off Charbonnet's group was coming here to sell some of their stuff, and we got the drop on them. I had some pretty good intel 'bout where that girl would be."

"Wasn't so good though, considering the position you're in now." Samus scowled beneath her helmet. She had thought this guy might be a good lead on figuring out exactly what was going on with Calline and what exactly Project Zero was, but he legitimately didn't seem to know anything.

"P-please… pleas don't kill me, Aran…" the man begged, and Samus was surprised to see what looked like actual tears in his eyes. "I'm not the bad guy here. These are outlaws, and that experimental soldier is dangerous. I'm just trying to do my job, pay my bills. You understand, right? You served the Federation not so long ago, same as me. I don't know what happened to change that and I won't tell anybody where you are."

It was a strange feeling that came over her as Samus looked down at the man. Normally her enemies never begged for their lives. They just fought until the end. She'd make the kill and go on her way. It was different now, seeing this young man genuinely terrified for his life. And he was right about one thing; she did understand his position. If only they had met a few days earlier, they would have been fighting for the same side.

Samus was quiet for a long time as she kept the pressure on the man's chest and he struggled to breath, his big brown eyes searching Samus's blank features for any kind of sign.

"If I let you go, you stay the fuck away from these people and from Calline LaRoux. And if you ever breathe a word to anyone about this encounter, I swear I will hunt you down and gut you like a fucking fish. And you know I'll make good on that promise because I was hunting down low life little piss ants like you while you were still learning how to use a toilet."

She rammed the cannon into his head, not hard enough to knock him out, but just hard enough to leave a good sized bump as she charged a plasma shot. His breathing sped up as he felt the heat burning the side of his face as she held the charging beam shot steady and let him sweat for a while as he stared up at her with pure terror in his eyes. When he started shaking and looked like he was about to wet himself, Samus quickly pivoted her cannon and fired the shot directly into the ground next to him. While the heat radiating from the shot was nearly unbearable, it was not enough to seriously hurt him. But he was certainly scared out of his mind.

Samus crouched on him for a moment longer before finally easing up on the pressure. "Don't make me regret this because the moment my name so much as passes your lips, you've just signed your own death certificate."

As she stood and backed slowly away, the bounty hunter scrambled to his feet. He only looked back at Samus for a moment before he turned tail and ran faster than he ever had in his life. Samus watched him go, her eyes glued on him until he was completely out of sight. Only then did she turn and begin to walk back to the ship.

She did not get far, however, before she came face to face with Elouisa Thibodaux, and the lieutenant was positively irate as she stared Samus down and held her rifle pointed directly at her heart.

"You get the hell away from here, bounty hunter!" Thibodaux yelled at Samus as she gripped her rifle, ready to shoot. "I swear, you take one fucking step closer, and I will shoot you!"

Samus stopped in her tracks, slowly raising her arms in a non-threatening manner. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. Don't worry."

"Why the hell should I believe you? One of your men just shot Henri!"

Samus sighed. This was the last thing she needed right now. Thibodaux didn't recognize her in her powersuit and apparently thought she had been part of the group that attacked them. "Those aren't my men. I'm not with them."

"Then who the hell are you?"

She thought about it for a moment, but ultimately she realized that Thibodaux not only did not recognize that she was Stevie, but she also did not recognize her as Samus Aran. When she realized there was no way to talk the other woman down from her state of fury, Samus deactivated the powersuit.

However, she had forgotten about what happened last time she did that. As the suit dematerialized, she was hit with a sudden sharp pain in her chest as it constricted and made it hard to breathe. This time, fortunately, she realized what was going on and did not mistake it for a heart attack. The pain made her clutch at her chest, but she was able to stay on her feet this time, and it subsided after a few seconds. As she caught her breath, she looked up at Thibodaux, who stared back at her in absolute shock.

"What the hell…" the lieutenant muttered as she looked at the blonde semi-human woman who had materialized where an armored hunter had once stood.

"It me…" Samus panted as she raised her hands again to reveal her empty open palms. "It's Stevie."

"Stevie Mack?" Thibodaux said in disbelief as she stared at Samus and lowered her rifle. "The tree-hugging hippie?"

"Heh," Samus grinned as she slowly lowered her hands. "Maybe that wasn't the most accurate label you could have given me…"

She was about to take a step toward Thibodaux as something piercingly painful hit her square in the back and sent her stumbling forward. It only took her a split second to realize she had been shot as the white-hot pain tore through her should blade.

It only took her another few seconds to materialize her powersuit and send a missile flying straight at the head of the hunter who had shot her in the back. And just before it made impact and blew his head up like a watermelon, she recognized his face as that of the bounty hunter she had pinned and realized she never should have let him live.

 _You let yourself be soft, Aran,_ she mentally scolded herself as the man's lifeless body collapsed in the distance. _You're a killer. You can't escape that fact._

As she deactivated her powersuit for the second time in the course of a few minutes, she let herself fall to one knee as the pain shot through her chest, joining in with the pain shooting through her back. She quickly recovered and got back to her feet, only to turn around and see the look of disgust and horror on Thibodaux's face.

"What?" Samus asked, her adrenaline still pumping from the ambush. "He would have shot you next."

"Your dress," the lieutenant said, looking at her like she was some kind of lab experiment. "Your blood is eating through it…"

Samus reached up and touched her back where she had been shot. She was bleeding, although she had not thought about it until now. And sure enough, the pink dress Chance had given her was burning away everywhere the blood was making contact with it.

"Makes sense," Samus replied, realizing that if she didn't stop bleeding soon, Thibodaux was going to end up seeing more of her than either of them had ever planned on. "My blood is acidic. It's a trait from one of my secondary species. Normally I take meds to keep the acidity down, but I haven't exactly been able to swing by a pharmacy recently."

Thibodaux's expression softened as she looked at Samus. "Why didn't you say something before? I can get you something to help with that."

Samus raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You have access to that kind of thing?"

Thibodaux laughed. "You never did ask what kind of cargo we were transporting."

Samus thought about it for a moment. "You're drug smugglers."

Thibodaux grinned. "Unfortunately just the medical kind. None of the recreational kind."

Samus chuckled and shook her head. "Damn." She snapped her fingers in fake disappointment as she began walking toward Thibodaux and the ship.

The lieutenant laughed as the two women walked back to the ship together. "We've got plenty of booze though, and as soon as we get the hell off this rock, you're welcome to as much as you can handle. Consider it thanks for showing up and saving our asses from those vultures."

The bounty hunter smiled politely but shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I'll have to pass."

"What's wrong, Mack?" Thibodaux asked as they boarded the ship and started heading to Chance's medical room. As soon as they were on board, the doors closed behind them and the ship's engines roared to life. "You no good at holding your liquor? Or you just not wanna do something you regret?"

Samus's face felt a bit warm. It was an embarrassing topic for her to discuss. "No, I hold my liquor very well. Too well. But about eighteen months ago I… I kind of made a promise to my wife, and even though she and I aren't together right now… it just still feels like I should still keep that up…" She could feel her face getting red.

"Wow," Thibodaux replied. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Damn, Mack. You must be a real keeper if you're willing to keep a promise like that just for a woman you'll probably never see again. That's love right there."

Samus blushed deeper, trying to avoid eye contact with Thibodaux as they walked through the steel-plated corridors and the ship took off. "If I were such a keeper, I wouldn't have needed to make that promise to begin with. She's the good one… stuck with me through a lot. This whole fugitive thing is only my latest misadventure."

Thibodaux laughed and threw her hands up behind her head. "Never thought I'd see the day I witnessed Samus Aran blush like a school girl."

Samus's eyes widened as she looked at her companion. "How did you…?"

"Oh come on, Sam. I'm not an idiot. You're a bit older and a hell of a lot more banged up, but you do look like the woman they showed on the news. And then activating that powersuit? And brushing off a red beam rifle shot to the back like it was nothing? And you're a lesbian? And a fugitive? You might as well have held up a big neon sign that said 'I am Samus Aran.'"

"Heh… I mean… yeah? I mean… I'm not really a lesbian, but everything else more or less… yeah. I guess I'm not so great at being subtle."

"So then… The news report we heard… Was the woman they had in custody your wife?"

Samus's expression sobered up as she nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry. And I'm sorry to hear about your dog, too. No wonder you looked so upset when you stormed out of the meeting."

"Thanks." Samus wasn't sure what else to say. She was still hurting over Archer's death, and she still knew she had to figure out a way to rescue Elisa. "How's Captain Charbonnet? Chance told me he got shot."

Thibodaux nodded. She was trying to restrain her feelings, but Samus could tell she was upset. "He's gonna be all right. Thank goodness. Chance is taking care of him. He's tough, but he and I are only human, you know? I worry."

"I take it you two are together?"

"You picked up on that, huh? What gave it away?"

Samus smiled. "The way you pointed that gun at me."

Thibodaux laughed so suddenly she snorted. "The way I pointed my gun at you?"

"Yeah. You weren't just pissed off because you thought I was part of the group that ambushed your crew. There was raw bloodlust in your eyes. You wanted vengeance for them shooting the captain. It was kind of romantic."

"Ugh… you've got a fucked up idea of romance."

Samus just smiled and shrugged as they stopped in front of the door to Chance's room. "I told you I wasn't the good one in my relationship."

Thibodaux just shook her head as she quietly opened the door to Chance's room and peeked her head inside. "Now I'm thinking we should all go try to rescue that wife of yours, just so I can meet the woman who puts up with your idea of romance."

Samus laughed quietly as Thibodaux's voice had fallen to a whisper. "She's pretty damn amazing."

"Tibs?" Chance's voice called from behind a curtain.

"Get out of here," Thibodaux whispered to Samus. "Go see how Calline is doing."

"Right," Samus replied as she turned and left the lieutenant to tend to Chance and the captain.

Calline's room was just down the hall, so it did not take any time at all for Samus to get there and knock on her door.

"Who's there?" the girl's voice called, sounding nervous.

"It's just me," Samus replied. "Can I come in?"

Slowly, the door creaked open as half of the girl's face peeked out of it. When she saw it was only Samus and no one else, she opened it wider to give her entry. Samus hurried inside, and the girl quickly locked the door behind her and scurried back onto her bed. Fortunately, the lights were on this time.

"There were men there again, weren't there?" the girl asked abruptly, staring at Samus with both eyes. "They were after me."

The bounty hunter nodded as she pulled out the desk chair again and took a seat. "But they didn't get you, and you're safe now. We got out of there okay."

"Captain Charbonnet got shot. I could hear them talking as they came down the hall. He's with Chance."

Samus nodded. "He's going to be fine," she said, keeping her voice very soft. "Lieutenant Thibodaux is with him now too."

Calline seemed satisfied with that answer as she shrunk back onto her bed and kept the scarred side of her face turned away from Samus once more. She seemed so small and frail, Samus couldn't imagine her as a soldier, much less a genetically enhanced super soldier like herself.

"Calline," she asked after a moment, "I know this is probably difficult for you to speak about, but I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me about the Federation Force? Specifically about Project Zero?"

The girl's eyes widened, and her whole body seemed to tense up at the mention of the project.

"Calline," Samus repeated softly, "I want to help. I think you have information that can help me do that. But I need to know about Project Zero. What was it? What kind of alien DNA were they using, and why were they trying to create super soldiers?"

"They were using DNA from the Host." She looked at Samus very seriously. "We never got to know what the Host was exactly, but supposedly, it's the ultimate bioweapon, a combination of powerful alien species. They wanted us to become like it, so they took samples from it. Most of us were able to gain some kind of powers, but not all of them like they were hoping. We reacted all right. Others didn't react so well. One kid died."

Samus's heart had sped up at the mention of the Host, but she did not interrupt while Calline was speaking. "You have powers?"

The girl nodded. "If you can call them that."

"What kind of powers did you get?"

Calline sat up straighter. "I'm not super strong or anything like some of the others…" She looked over at her desk and seemed to focus very intensely on it all of a sudden. Samus looked over to see what she was looking at, but all the bounty hunter could see were a few scattered sheets of paper and some charcoal pencils. After a moment, however, she realized what the girl was doing.

"You're telekinetic…" She stared in awe as several of the pencils spun around, suspended in midair. "Which must mean the Host is too, right?"

Calline gently lowered the pencils and blinked a few times once they were back on the table. "I guess so."

Samus had fought telekinetic enemies before. She thought back to her battle with Silver Wing on LV-426 and shuddered. Whatever this Host creature was, it must have been something powerful if the Federation was trying to find ways to replicate its properties. "Any idea where the Host came from?"

Calline shook her head. "Nope. They didn't really tell us much. It was all top secret. Was I able to help anyway?"

"Yes, Calline." Samus smiled and pulled the girl into a hug. "You were a big help. Thank you."

"I'm glad." She sat back onto her bed as Samus let go.

"Lady," Adam said suddenly in her ear, "I need to speak to you in private."

She nearly jumped at the sound of the AI's voice, forgetting she still had the earpiece on.

"Calline," she said, fairly certain the girl had not heard the AI. "Thank you for all your help, but I need to get back to my room now."

"Will you come back soon?"

Samus nodded. "Of course I will."


	19. Chapter 19: To Catch a Hunter

Earth was the planet that housed the oldest human settlements, and while he understood its historical value, Calvin Renpo had always viewed the planet with disdain. He found it primitive and most of its technology obsolete, nothing special as far as planets went. So it surprised him to hear that a figure as prominent as Secretary of Defense Adele Harper had been transported to emergency surgery in one of Earth's hospitals.

As he stepped through the doors of Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, he was met by a line of Federation Army officers in full uniform. He nodded to them and showed them his badge, and they let him pass without exchanging words. Standing about six feet tall, Calvin Renpo was a Caucasian man in early forties. He had short dark hair that showed no sign of gray, and he was dressed in his full uniform as well. Though he was not actually in the military, he was the Chief Science Officer on the G.F.S. Arcadia and worked with a lot of Army administration.

He wrinkled his nose as he walked through the long white halls with their rows of computer screens mounted to showcase the vitals of the patients lying on their beds behind closed doors as nurses in their frumpy scrubs scurried about the hall. He thought the air smelled like a mixture of death and disinfectant, and he wondered again why Harper had been taken to such a death trap. Earth hospitals were notorious for outbreaks of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections given how well those species of bacteria thrived in the Earth's environment.

As he walked, he passed by a scruffy looking doctor leaning on a cane and looking at him skeptically. Calvin ignored the man as he kept walking. He wanted to get in and out of this meeting as quickly as possible. When he arrived at last at the room in which Harper was recovering, he wordlessly showed his badge to the two guards outside and let himself in the door. As he entered, he was relieved to see that he and the General were alone.

Adele Harper was a frighteningly tall woman, but even her massive six-and-a-half foot frame looked dwarfed as she lay in bed. There was an oxygen tube under nose, several wires running under her hospital gown, and an IV drip running into her right arm, her only arm. Bandages covered the stump on her left shoulder, and the absence of the arm left her looking lopsided. Calvin had been told she had been bitten by a dog, but he had not realized it had been bad enough that they had had to take her whole arm.

"What are you looking at, Mr. Renpo?" she asked, her voice dripping its characteristic acid as she stared him down.

Calvin shook his head and diverted his attention from her arm to her face. "I had not realized the dog bite was that bad. Unless that's not what really happened?"

Harper scowled. Her graying brown hair hung loose around her face, and it was the first time Calvin had ever seen in not pulled into a tight bun. "It was a dog bite, if you can call that fucking animal a dog. Aran's mutt was apparently as obnoxious as she is. That's one dog down, and we'll get the bitch soon enough."

Renpo raised his eyebrows as he looked around the lavender room and pulled up one of the plastic visitor's chairs and took a seat. He noticed there weren't any flowers or signs of well-wishers save for a single, unopened white envelop. "Do you really think you're ever going to be able to get Samus Aran now? You had your chance. When my team and I cut the suit from her body, she was completely helpless. You could have apprehended her then. Killed her even. With the condition she was in, no one would have asked questions."

Harper laughed dryly. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she seemed to have aged ten years in the course of a couple of days. "That would have defeated the purpose, Renpo. We wouldn't have been able to take down Biologic's Space Labs or destroy SR-388 on our own without attracting suspicion."

The man leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He was confused but genuinely curious. "So that was the plan all along? Is that why you insisted on giving her the Malkovich AI?"

Harper nodded. "Precisely. I knew he'd start to remember who he was and get all caught up in his bioweapon opposition. Then his bitch would carry out whatever orders he gave her to destroy the station. She took care of our dirty work for us. And now she's the most hated being in the galaxy, a treasonous terrorist according to all the media outlets. That mission could not have gone any better for us."

"Except for the loss of the Metroid research. And the SA-X."

"We don't need that anymore. Not now that we've got the Zero Host."

Renpo shook his head. "Samus Aran is still out there. And I'd bet anything that she's pissed. She's not going to—"

"Samus Aran won't be a problem. She'll be in custody soon enough."

This time it was Renpo's turn to laugh. "I don't know what kind of drugs they've got you on, Adele, but do you honestly think there's anyone in the Federation who can capture Samus Aran? Any bounty hunter that could track her down and bring her in, dead or alive? She's a ghost, and she's long gone by now."

The General frowned. "You're not thinking this through, Calvin. If you want to catch a hunter, you don't try to hunt her down. You give her something to hunt. And you make sure she finds it."

The man leaned in closer, even more intrigued now than he had been before. "Oh?"

"The Malkovich AI has been trying to hack our systems. I leaked a few files pertaining to his death and the Zero Host experiment. It won't be long before we have Samus Aran rushing in, guns blazing, ready to save the day."

"And we actually… want her to do that?"

Adele Harper smiled as she leaned back in her hospital bed. "That's what it's all been about. That's what this whole damn thing has been all about."

* * *

"What's up, Adam?" Samus asked the AI as she stepped into her room and locked the door behind her. The etecoons and dachoras looked over curiously from the bed. One of the little blue aliens yawned as Samus's entrance woke him up.

"Who was that young girl?" The computer asked in her ear, and Samus remembered she had not brought the compact with her the first time she had visited Calline's room with Chance.

"That's Calline. I guess she's the Calline LaRoux those bounty hunters were after." Samus took off the blood-stained and tattered dress and threw it on the floor before flopping onto her bed alongside the aliens. "She was sent away to the Federation Force and they did experiments on her to enhance her and stuff. She escaped but her she's got a big scar on her face from that whole incident and a bunch of other kids died, apparently."

"And she's part of Project Zero? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Samus shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just didn't think it was important."

"Lady, we've been looking for information on the Zero Host."

"Yeah, and 'zero' is a pretty generic word. Forgive me for not making the connection." The bounty hunter rolled her eyes. "I've kind of had a lot to think about if you haven't noticed. Calline was not exactly at the forefront of my mind while I was recounting how I murdered my best friend."

"Don't roll your eyes at me, Lady. I'm only trying to help."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "You can't even see me. How would you know what I'm doing with my eyes?"

"I could tell by your tone. You always make some kind of face when you sound like that. I've know you for eighteen years, Samus, and—" The AI stopped himself as he realized what he had been saying.

"Eighteen years?" Samus knew how he had come up with that number. The AI had been created four years ago, and she had met Adam twenty-two years ago. He was beginning to talk as though he actually was Adam, the real Adam, from the year in which he was created.

"…I forgot for a moment."

"Forgot that you're a four year old computer program and nothing more?"

"I apologize… It's just that this is _my_ consciousness and _my_ memories and it's getting harder to separate who I was from who… or what… I am now."

"It's not hard for me." Samus frowned. "But enough about you. What about Calline and Project Zero?"

"Right… I suppose that's what we came in here to discuss. Anyway, are you familiar with the Federation Force?"

"I think I heard of them years ago. Guys in mech suits or something? The GF asked for my input on their design. I read in a tabloid once that I had been brainwashed by Space Pirates and they had used the magic of sports to defeat me and save the day."

"Um… all right. I don't know what to make of that. I think the 'guys in mech suits' you are referring to is the elite Federation Marine team known as Project Golem. They served under General Alex Miles. Though they were a small unit, they were key in several major battles during the Space Pirate War, and Alex was a close personal friend of mine. Unfortunately, she and the rest of her unit perished in one of the final battles of the war when they tried to reclaim Zebes. It was just before you completed your mission on SR-388 and brought back that larva."

"So the Federation Force now is separate from Project Golem?" Samus asked, putting the pieces together. "And because General Miles went down with her crew, they'd be under a completely different Commanding Officer."

"Exactly. And from what I can tell, this new branch of the Force, Project Zero, has some connection to the research I— the real Adam, I mean— did that was coopted by the science team onboard the Bottle Ship where he was killed. I did some more digging around in those encrypted files we hacked. I'm still working on them, but I have come across some interesting information. Specifically, the Bottle Ship, it turns out, was owned by the Space Development Corporation, a subsidiary of the Weyland-Yutani Coporation."

"I know about that," Samus said. "Disciplinary action was taken again Weyland-Yutani for violating the bioweapons ban, and the subsidiary was dissolved."

"Yes, but before it was dissolved, the Space Development Corporation was involved in pharmaceutical and other biological research. The Bottle Ship was a state of the art research lab. Investors saw it as a way for the Space Development Corporation to pull ahead of its number one competitor in the market."

"Biologic."

"Precisely. When Space Development went under, a lot of their contracts went straight to Biologic, including their government contracts. And at the time I wrote my research reports, the Space Development Corporation had a contract for weapons research with something called 'Project Zero,' which I suspect is the same Project Zero Calline was part of."

"So the xenotroids we saw on the Bottle Ship were directly related to the purebred Metroids we saw on the B.S.L… and because they knew Metroid and xenomorph DNA was already compatible, that's how they knew to make me a vaccine out of Metroid cells without my body rejecting it." Samus sat suddenly upright and punched the bed. "Son of a bitch!"

"They probably had that vaccine ready long before you went to SR-388, Lady. They probably knew about the x parasites as well."

"Fuck!" Samus growled. "This whole thing was probably a set up to cut off those parts of my suit so they could create and capture the SA-X. Adam, they sacrificed a whole space station worth of scientists and sentient life forms just so they could do that!"

"Calm yourself, Samus. We don't know for sure that's what happened."

"Well, I'm glad we turned the tables on them. The last thing we needed was for them to capture the SA-X or let the X parasites loose on the rest of the universe."

"Yes…" Adam's voice lacked conviction.

"What's wrong?"

"Something just doesn't sit right with me about that theory. If they knew about the X parasites, they would know exactly how dangerous the SA-X could be. Or even just how dangerous the X could be."

Samus laid back down as she tried to think about it. "I don't know, Adam. I don't know anything about the Federation anymore. I thought I did, but that was a long time ago now. And I know I should be more interested in finding the Zero Host and taking it out, but my mind just can't focus on that right now."

"This is about Elisa, isn't it?"

"Yeah… they've got her, and I can only imagine what they're doing to her to get her to talk. And I'm worried about Hector, Abby, and Evie, too. "

"Perhaps you should take Lieutenant Thibodaux up on her suggestion of a rescue mission."

Samus grunted. "Doubt this crew would be up for that. We're talking about breaking into a top security Federation military prison. No, I'm going to have to find a way to get there and rescue her myself. I work alone, especially when I'm infiltrating high security places like that. Still… it might not hurt to ask if they've got any suggestions as to where I can get a ship so I can do that."

The bounty hunter stood up and stretched. She headed into the bathroom and dug around in the box Chance had given her until she pulled out another cotton sundress. This one was lavender with daisies printed on it. She grimaced in disgust as she slipped it on and tied the sash around her waist. As she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she stuck her tongue out.

"How are you feeling, Lady?"

"Like a pretty, pretty princess," she said in a way that sounded like she was repressing the urge to vomit.

"Come on now, Lady. Chance was nice enough to share his clothes with you."

"Look, my dog is dead. My wife's been kidnapped. I'm the most wanted fugitive in the galaxy, and I'm part fucking Metroid for crying out loud! I don't think I'm being unreasonable by just wishing I had a pair of pants!"

"Let me guess. You want blue jeans, boots, and a leather jacket?"

Samus grinned as she turned off the light and stepped out of the bathroom. "You know me too well. It's eerie. But just so you know, I've taken a liking to flannel too ever since moving up to the mountains."

The bounty hunter took a breath as she opened the bedroom door and stepped out into the hallway. She was planning on knocking on the door to Chance's room, but she was surprised to see the semi-human and Lieutenant Thibodaux walking toward her.

"Stevie!" the lemur creature called out excitedly as he began walking faster.

Samus just waved to the two of them as she approached.

"Stevie," Chance repeated as the three of them met up. He kept his voice quiet. "Char is asleep in my room. He's gonna be okay, but I gave him something for the pain to knock him out for a while so he can heal."

Samus nodded. "That's good to hear, Chancey. I'm glad."

Thibodaux had a nervous smile, but she seemed to reaching a point of cautious optimism. Still, her worry was palpable throughout the corridor.

"Lieutenant," Samus said, looking to Thibodaux. "I think there's something I should share with the crew. About what we discussed earlier…"

Thibodaux held up her hand. "Say no more. Whatever you need. You saved us from those bounty hunters. You saved my partner. I'm willing to do whatever you need to help you save yours."

"What?" Chance asked, looking back and forth between the two women in his confusion. "What do mean? You have a partner, Stevie? What happened to them?"

"Chance," she replied quietly, feeling slightly guilty as he stared up at her, completely unaware of the deception that had been taking place since she came on board. "I've been lying to you. I'm not who I said I am."

He looked confused, his large golden eyes searching her face for any sign of what she was getting at. "It's not unusual for fugitives to use an alias."

Samus shook her head. "It's more than that. Chance, I'm not on the run because I stole animals. I'm on the run because I blew up a space station… and also a planet. But I had a good reason."

"Y-you… blew up a p-planet?!"

"I've actually… heh… I've actually blown up a few planets over the years."

The look on his face was simultaneously confused and horrified.

"Chance, I'm not Stevie Mack. My name is Samus Aran, and I used to be a mercenary."

"You're… you're Samus Aran? _The_ Samus Aran?"

Samus nodded.

"It's true," Thibodaux added. "That's how she managed to save us from those bounty hunters. She's got powers. And a suit."

"That's why you were so scarred up," Chance said, looking Samus up and down as he took a step backward. "And why you heal so fast."

"It's true," Samus said.

"And that means… the news earlier… it was your dog that got killed and your partner who got abducted by the Federation!"

Samus just nodded.

"Say the word, Sam," Thibodaux said with a grin. "Just say the word, and we'll give you a hand with getting her back."

"I can't ask that of you," Samus replied. "You've already done enough for me, and my presence has already put you all in enough danger. Just take care of the etecoons and dachoras for me. That's all I ask. I just need a small ship or something. I'll infiltrate the prison myself. No one else needs to get hurt."

"Are you kidding?" Chance asked, his eyes wide. "This is what we've been waiting for! A chance to really stick it to the Federation! They messed with the wrong crew and the wrong ex-mercenary!"

"Before you object," Thibodaux cut in, knowing exactly what Samus would say, "this is what we're trained for. Stealth. Avoiding detection. We've done runs in Federation territory before. We'll take you to the prison, and even if you don't want us trying to go in with you and slowing you down, we'll help you get there and escape once you've got your girl in tow. And anyone who doesn't want to come can opt out and wait planetside somewhere. But I'm telling you right now. No one's gonna opt out. Not after what you did for us today."

While it went against so much of what she was used to and so much of what she believed in, Samus managed to smile at the offer. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, but if your cloaking and stealth abilities are as good as you say they are, they really would be an asset at getting through the prison's defenses. At least as far as getting there goes."

Part of her knew that trying to break into a Federation military prison was beyond reckless and that Elisa would have told her to forget about her and focus on finding the Zero Host instead. But she had never really felt the need to listen to that part of herself. It may have been risky, but she was not about to allow Elisa to suffer anymore because of her. She had lost too many people already, and even if it meant putting off infiltrating Project Zero, Samus refused to add Elisa's name to the list of people who died protecting her.


	20. Chapter 20: Back in Black

When Hector woke up, it was night and Abby was pulling into what appeared to be a heavily guarded military complex. Stretching and sitting up straight in his seat, he watched with a quiet awe as she simply spoke to one of the heavily armed Marines who approached the car, and they let her pass through and drive down the complex's dirt road through the rows of barracks.

Hector realized they must have been on the road for hours, but he could not remember when he had dozed off. At any rate, Abby seemed to have found the Marine base just fine without him, and she seemed to know her way to wherever Admiral Dane was located.

The idea of meeting the decorated Fleet Admiral made Hector somewhat uneasy, but that was not unusual. Though his father had always technically been in the Federation Army, he had mostly been a paper pusher as long as Hector had been alive. Abby's father, the late General Malkovich, on the other hand, had always intimidated him. There was something about high-ranking military officials that always set him on edge, and despite her friendship with General Malkovich, his mother had been much the same way. She didn't trust anyone who threw a rank or title around like they had something to prove. Still, even Samus Aran had respected Admiral Dane.

It was not long before they pulled up in front of a simple log cabin sitting near the heart of the base. Abby drove up and parked the car as though she had been here before, and the two young adults stepped out of it. Hector paused for a moment, deciding whether or not he wanted to bring the backpack Elisa had given him. Eventually he figured that he felt better keeping it on his person and slung it over his shoulder before touching the small box and gun in the inner breast pocket of his jacket. The reminder of their presence made him feel more secure as he and Abby walked toward the cabin's entrance.

It was not raining nearly as hard now as it had been earlier, but the ground was still soft and littered with deep puddles. They had to be careful as they made their way over the slick terrain and up the slippery wooden steps to the door. Abby knocked, and it was not long before the door opened to reveal a very tall man dressed in the olive green uniform of a Federation Marine Fleet Admiral. He looked to be well into his sixties, but his movements still showed a characteristic strength and vigor. His face was worn with age, and graying stubble lined his cheeks. There was a patch over one of his eyes, and a long scar bisected it.

"Abridgette Malkovich," he said with a nod to Abby. He had a husky voice with a slight gravel to it. "And Hector Aran, I presume."

"Fields," Hector replied, surprised the Admiral had assumed he bore his mother's surname. "Hector Fields."

"Good evening, Admiral Dane," Abby said, ignoring Hector's correction. "May we come in?"

"Of course," the tall man said, stepping to the side so they could enter the cabin. "I know we have a lot to talk about."

"Thank you, Sir," Abby said as she led Hector into the Admiral's dwelling.

The walked into what appeared to be the living area as Admiral Dane shut the door behind them. Dark wood paneling lined the walls, and the carpet was a dusky burnt orange. There was a wooden coffee table and a couch and chair set that both had a matching green and brown paisley pattern. Though the design of the room was very dated, it was immaculately clean and well organized. As the Admiral gestured to do so, Hector and Abby each took a seat on his couch as he sat down in the winged armchair.

"This room is clean," the older man began as his one eye searched the two young adults very closely. "I've already checked the whole house for bugs, so don't worry. Big Brother isn't watching here."

Hector felt suddenly dumb for not even considering that it was a possibility that the Admiral's house had been bugged. It was beginning to sink in just how far in over his head he was.

"Admiral Dane," Abby began, looking between the older man and Hector, "we're here because Samus Aran's partner was arrested by Federation officials because of her role in Samus's alleged treason against the Federation. We're worried about her and don't want to just sit around while she's held and tortured in a military prison. We've come to ask for your help in rescuing her."

Admiral Dane was quiet for a moment as he regarded his two visitors and thought over their request. "Most people, if they were looking to help someone in prison, would go to a lawyer instead of a Marine. I'm guessing that the help you're looking for, however, is not of the legal variety. More likely, it seems your asking me for help of the illegal variety, and I have to wonder why you would do that. You know my rank. You know I am sworn to serve and protect the Federation at all costs, even that of my own life, and you come here today asking me for something that sounds like another act of treason. To take sides against the Federation I swore to protect and to help one of its prisoners, also in custody for treason."

"I know how it sounds," Abby pressed, leaning in. "But you know as well as I do that Samus had a good reason for doing whatever she did. I don't need to know all the details about it to know that much is true."

"Ms. Malkovich, even if I did believe that Samus had her reasons for blowing up the B.S.L. station and SR-388, the fact remains that she fled Federation Territory. If she had a good reason to do what she did, she should have talked to an attorney and made her case in court. The same goes for Ms. Rodriguez. You should be talking to a lawyer about getting her out of there, not me."

"Believe me," Abby replied, "if I thought there was anything a lawyer could do, I would have been to one yesterday. But you know as well as I do that it's worthless. You know things have been going south with the Federation ever since Chairman Keaton left office and Chairman McKinnon took his place and appointed Harper as Secretary of Defense. My father knew it, and you know it, too."

Admiral Dane quietly pondered her words. A slight flash of amusement danced across his face before fading into the shadows. "There are many within the Federation that share your late father's sentiments, particularly with respect to the repeal of the bioweapons ban. There are many who oppose our current system of imperialism and look forward to the day when the current chairman is removed from office and jailed for what should be considered crimes against sentient life across the galaxy. However, if there is no one left within the Federation who oppose this regime, they will be unstoppable, and if any of those who oppose this regime take obvious action against it, they will be replaced. Understand?"

"Or they'll end up dead," Abby added. "Like my father."

The Fleet Admiral nodded soberly. "And if they do, they won't be able to resist from within. And that resistance, though quiet, runs deeper in the Federation's ranks than either of you know. And it would not be wise to call attention to it through hypothetical acts of treason, especially not now that Federation Internal Security is so hot following the Samus Aran incident."

"Of course," Abby replied, understanding his point. "We would never want to endanger anyone else in the Federation, particularly not those who would best be able to understand Samus's actions."

"So I apologize," the Admiral replied with a knowing smile, "that I can't be of any direct help after you two came out all this way to see me. I can only recommend that you kids speak to a lawyer about freeing Ms. Rodriguez and helping Samus make her case whenever she decides to come home. The only thing I can offer you for all of your trouble is that I can send one of my men to transport you back to wherever you need to be now."

His eyes met Abby's, and he nodded as the girl smiled. Unspoken words passed between them as Hector looked on silently. He knew what they had truly come here for, and the Admiral was offering it in a subtle, covert kind of way that could not be used against him.

"Aliehs-III," Abby replied. "We were planning to head up to Aliehs-III before we came here, so if one of your men could take us there now, we would appreciate it."

The Admiral nodded. "Of course, Ms. Malkovich. I'll send for someone right away. I'm sorry I could not be of any help to you two, but I do wish you the best in helping Samus and her partner with their legal battles."

Abby just smiled and gripped Hector's hand. It would not be long now before they would be able to access Samus's second ship and begin the important part of their mission.

* * *

Samus grinned as she surveyed her appearance in the full-length mirror on the back of her bathroom's door. While she had certainly appreciated Chance's generosity in sharing his clothes with her, it felt amazing to be out of those dresses and back into a pair of pants and a shirt. She now wore an outfit similar to the black uniform of Thibodaux and the rest of the _Dreamboat Annie's_ crew.

The formfitting black pants were of the same leathery but flexible material as the fitted top. There were no sleeves, but there was a set of matching gauntlets on her forearms. The laced up boots rose almost to her knees, and around her hips she wore a utility belt where protective pouches held both Adam's compact and a communicator device Chance had given her. Her earpiece could switch between the two devices so she could make calls back to the ship or talk to Adam depending on her needs. At her hip, there was a silvery handgun holstered and ready for action. Though it lacked the sort of firepower she was used to, it felt good to carry a gun again, and Samus felt like things were finally getting back to normal.

In a few minutes, she would be heading up to the mess deck to address the crew as they prepared to infiltrate the Federation military prison where she was certain Elisa was being held. Samus had put enough criminals away over the years and been arrested enough times herself to know where they would transport someone they suspected of conspiring to acts of treason. Thibodaux and Chance were already addressing the gathering crew as Samus dressed and readied herself for the meeting. Even the etecoons and dachoras had gone up ahead of her, and she suspected Calline would be there as well.

Right now, those who knew her true identity would be filling in the rest of the crew, and she expected some backlash from a couple of people, most notably Rocco who had reacted so strongly to her name in the news report. She doubted that people who opposed the Federation so strongly would unanimously approve of helping someone who had oft been called its lapdog.

She sighed as she pulled her hair up into a high ponytail and took one last look at herself in the mirror. The uniform looked good on her slim athletic form, and it made her feel more like herself. Now that she had rested up and her wounds had healed enough, she looked forward to returning to battle once more. It wasn't that she liked violence or hoped to encounter any of it while rescuing Elisa; she was simply glad to be taking action instead of fleeing.

Thoughts of Project Zero crossed her mind, but she quickly pushed them aside as she left her bedroom and walked out into the hallway. She could not afford to worry about that mission before completing this one. Right now, Elisa had to take priority, and Samus walked quickly across the ship and up to the mess deck to find everyone sitting around the table once more as they had at meals. This time, all eyes were on her as she entered the room, and not all of them looked pleased to see her in the crew's uniform. As she had expected, Rocco looked less than thrilled and Captain Charbonnet stared her down with his normal stoicism, though he looked tired.

Thibodaux, Calline, and Chance smiled at her, and the etecoons and dachoras looked happy to see her as she stood at the head of the table opposite the captain and prepared to address the crew.

"Good evening," Samus began as she looked across the table and met everyone's eyes one at a time. "As you've probably heard by now, I've got a bit of apologizing to do. I'm not Stevie Mack, as I presented myself when I met all of you. I'm actually Samus Aran, former mercenary and current fugitive of the Galactic Federation. I'm sure some of you were less than thrilled to learn this, and you're probably skeptical about why I'm here and reluctant to help me. I understand, and I don't want anyone to feel pressured into doing so."

Rocco glared at her with his lion's head and raised his lips in the beginnings of a silent snarl. "Do you even care that your presence could have put us all into very real danger?"

Samus was about to apologize when Thibodaux suddenly cut in.

"Oh shut up, Rocco," the lieutenant snapped. "Sam saved your sorry ass same as everyone else's when those bounty hunters jumped us and shot Char. Show the woman some damn respect."

"Do you even hear yourself?" the lion creature shot back in his deep voice. "This woman is the most wanted and most dangerous fucking psychopath in the known universe. She's practically the Federation's pet bounty hunter, and you want us to risk our lives to help save her little girlfriend? How do you know she didn't hire those bounty hunters to attack us as a way to convince us to let her use our ship?"

Thibodaux rolled her eyes. "You're just being paranoid. Besides, we're not just doing this to spring her sweetheart. We're doing this to hurt the Federation, and once we're done, we're going to work on taking down that Project Zero thing Calline used to be a part of."

Rocco huffed as he glared at her. "I don't like it. I don't trust her, and I don't like it."

"Fair enough," Samus said, holding a hand up and taking back control of the room before Thibodaux and Rocco's argument could escalate. "I won't ask anyone to trust or like me. That's entirely your choice. But we can work together for a common purpose: opposing the Federation's bioweapons research and imperialism. I may not be likeable, but I am skilled, and you can't argue with that. With your support, I can infiltrate much more than the military prison. But first, I'm rescuing Elisa, and I don't care who doesn't like it."

Her voice was calm but firm as she spoke, and she surprised even herself. If anyone had asked her during the Space Pirate War if she thought she would ever put a single individual's life before the greater mission, she would have laughed in their face. Now she stood before these people, people who opposed the Federation she had once defended, and gave them an ultimatum that either they would help her save Elisa or she would not help them in their resistance.

Rocco did not say anything as he continued to glare at her. Only Captain Charbonnet seemed willing to break the silence as he finally spoke.

"Samus Aran," the captain began, regarding her very seriously, "you came to us under false pretenses and put everyone on this ship at risk with your presence. You served the Galactic Federation all through the war and in the years following until recently when you committed an act of treason. And now you stand before us and have the audacity to ask for our assistance with infiltrating a maximum security prison?"

"I do," Samus stated simply.

The captain nodded. "You also saved my life earlier and the lives of everyone on this ship when the bounty hunters attacked. We have guns, obviously, but we are not mercenaries and despite our best efforts, we would not have been able to repel the attack on our own. So if for nothing other than that, I'll ignore your earlier transgressions and call it even. Let us proceed with a clear slate."

"Thank you," Samus replied, waiting for his next statement.

"We will take you to the prison," the captain said. "We'll get through its security and drop you within its gates, but you'll have to take it from there. We won't stick around and put our lives into further jeopardy."

Samus nodded. "I understand. It won't be hard for me to steal one of their ships and get away on my own. Then if you wish to help me with Project Zero, we can regroup later and strategize. All I ask is that you keep the etecoons and dachoras safe."

"Hold up!" Chance called out as he stood up suddenly. "We can't just abandon her alone in a prison complex! Not while she's a wanted fugitive!"

"It's fine, Chance," Samus said. "Really, it's fine…"

"It's not fine!" he said to Samus before turning to Captain Charbonnet. "I'm going with her. I can take down the security systems while she does her thing, and it will be easier for us to escape like that."

Captain Charbonnet showed no expression as he looked at Chance. "Do as you wish."

"I'm going too!" Calline interjected suddenly, much to the surprise of everyone in the room. "I'm supposed to be a warrior or something, right? But all I've done is sit in my room and run. I'm going with Samus and Chance. I don't want to lose them, so I'm staying with them."

"Calline," Samus began, but she was cut off.

"I'm not changing my mind," the girl stated as she glared at Samus. "I'm coming with you. I'm the only one who knows anything about Project Zero, and you're the only one who can stop it. If anything happens, it's better for us to be together so we don't have to worry about regrouping."

"I don't have a problem with that," Captain Charbonnet stated. "And if no one else wants to cut in, I think it's settled then. Samus, Chance, and Calline will be dropped off in the prison complex, and we'll make out exit. Afterwards, we'll eventually regroup and plan how to go after Project Zero."

"Anyone got any objections?" Thibodaux asked, but no one said anything. "Good. It's final then."

Samus wanted to object to Calline's presence, but she did not say anything. She knew it would make more sense in the long run for her and Calline to be together in case anything happened to the ship, but the idea of bringing the girl into a heavily guarded prison bothered her. She'd do everything in her power to protect her, of course, but there was something nagging at her in the back of her mind. She worried that a maximum security military prison, the same one she'd be held in if she were ever caught, might house some more of those mysterious green and blue bombus from the Bottle Ship, the same ones that had made it impossible to use her powersuit in the superheated pyrosphere.

As the meeting was called to a close, everyone stood and went on their way. Captain Charbonnet and the rest of the crew headed to the cockpit and their respective posts as Chance, Calline, the etecoons, and the dachoras stayed with Samus in the dining area.

 _"Hatchling,"_ the dachora said to her in Chozo, _"be safe."_

 _"You too,"_ Samus replied, petting the head of her feathered friend. _"And hopefully we'll meet again."_

The large green bird just nodded as she and the rest of the animals looked at Samus. They watched as a light surrounded the bounty hunter and disappeared to reveal her standing fully clad in her armored powersuit, ready for the mission.


	21. Chapter 21: Ruthless

Samus didn't like the idea of taking Chance and Calline with her to infiltrate the prison. She knew they had a plan in place that would only work if Chance went with her, and she was a little more understanding of that than she was of having Calline with them. The girl might have been trained as a warrior, and she might have possessed telekinetic abilities, but she was still only a child as far as Samus was concerned.

The plan, though relatively straightforward, would be difficult to pull off. First, she'd protect Chance and Calline while they broke into the main systems control room and located where Elisa was being held. Lieutenant Thibodaux had helped her hack into the prison's database and download a map of its layout. Then, the two of them would jam the security surveillance in that area and make it seem like there was an emergency in another part of the prison so Samus could get to Elisa's cell with as little resistance as possible.

Samus stood rigid in her powersuit as she waited to get the signal that it was time to go. She, Chance, and Calline were in the main docking area of the lowest deck, just past the cargo hull. The other two people were in makeshift spacesuits that seemed crude next to Samus's, but the former bounty hunter knew they just had to make it down to the drop point. Keeping them alive through this operation would be no small task, and she was not looking forward to the moment when their little group would have to split up.

Right now, they would be flying through the outer layer of security on the Federation's most heavily guarded military prison station, and while Captain Charbonnet had assured her that they were using the most high tech cloaking methods known to man, Samus was not so sure it was going to be enough. She couldn't see outside of the ship, but she was edge, waiting to feel the ship rock from the cannon fire that could strike it at any moment. She wished she had her old gunship, not the one that had hit the asteroid off of SR-388, but the other one she had used during the Phaaze crisis. Its cloaking was vastly superior to anything known to man because it had been based almost entirely upon Chozo technology she had rediscovered during her various missions to planets that had been formerly occupied by the ancient race.

Of course, she had no way to access that ship now. It would still be stored safely in her privately owned garage space on Aliehs-III since there were no longer any records that it existed. However, she knew better than to try to go to Aliehs-III and get it since the planet was probably crawling with bounty hunters who knew she had also parked her regular ship there.

She held her breath as the smugglers' ship flew through hostile airspace, and she was amazed they had not been attacked yet. Most likely, the ship was functionally invisible, both to the eye and to any type of radar system. It would have to be equipped with at least enough technology to do that if it was smuggling medications in and out of Federation territory without being caught.

"Samus, can you read me?" Thibodaux's voice came over the speakers in the docking space.

"Loud and clear," the bounty hunter replied, knowing that the room had enough microphones hidden in it that Thibodaux would be able to hear her even up in the cockpit.

"Okay, good. We're getting through the main lines of guards now, but Charbonnet doesn't think we're going to be able to get into the inner layer undetected. We're gonna have to drop you off from much higher than we initially planned."

Samus grimaced. She knew what that meant. "No problem. What's the plan now?"

"Out systems are showing a small area that isn't as heavily guarded. It's further away from the inmate facilities than we would have preferred, but we can drop you there."

"Undetected?"

"That's the thing," Thibodaux replied, sounding hesitant, "there's no way to avoid detection if we fly into that area. However, we're planning to just dip into those radar fields, drop you, and fly off. We'll let them chase us for a while before we make the jump into hyperdrive."

Samus frowned. "That's basically suicide."

"No, it's not. Not if you follow orders and make the drop exactly when I tell you to. We've got it all figured out. You just focus on your mission, and we'll focus on ours."

With a heavy sigh, the bounty hunter relented. "Do what you have to do. Just give me the signal when it's time."

"Get into position because we're coming up on it quick!"

"Understood," Samus replied as she turned to Chance and Calline. "You heard the lieutenant. Get into position."

Samus knelt down on one knee as the two of them climbed up onto her shoulders. It was awkward to have them up there, and they were large enough that both had to hold on tight to Samus. But the bounty hunter was strong, and standing up was easy even with the girl and the humanoid clinging to her. Since the drop was going to be from so high, Samus's suit would be the only one that could handle the impact of the fall without taking too much damage. She was not looking forward to impact with the ground, but she knew absorbing all of it was the only way to protect her two companions.

"Get ready," Thibodaux's voice said over the intercom as the light on the exterior hatch changed from red to yellow.

Samus stood in the ready position, fully prepared to run as soon as the light turned green. This would probably be the most dangerous part of this mission, and if anything went wrong, it could very easily be the only part of this mission.

"Go!" Thibodaux's voice yelled as the light turned green and the hatch flew open.

Without any hesitation, Samus ran for it full force as Chance and Calline clung to her with all their might. As she jumped out of the ship and they began their free fall to the surface of the station, she could hear the other two's strangled screams. She, however, was silent as she tucked in her knees and did a single roll through the air before landing cat-like on the ground. Her feet hit first, but she let herself quickly fall to one knee, her left hand bracing her as all three of them got their bearings.

A warning flashed on her HUD to let her know the fall had depleted a full energy tank of shielding, but she ignored it. There was much more shielding where that came from, and given the height of their fall, she was surprised the damage was not worse. She caught her breath as Chance and Calline let themselves fall off of her back and shakily stand upright as they turned to look at their surroundings.

"W-where is this place?" Calline asked, looking back at Samus as the bounty hunter got to her feet.

Samus looked around, silent for a moment. They had found a good place to land as there were no guards in sight. Overhead, they could see ships scrambling to go after the cargo ship that was fleeing from their station, but there was no one on the ground.

They were surrounded on most sides by large gray buildings that seemed to have been fused to the metallic surface of the station. There was nothing natural about the steel-plated ground beneath their feet, and the surrounding night sky made Samus feel like they were on a spaceship with the top down or something. The prison was so isolated from other planets and systems that there were no stars close enough to serve as its sun.

"We must be by the guards' and wardens' quarters," Samus replied, beckoning for them to follow her into an alleyway between two buildings so they would not be so out in the open anymore. Wherever they were, this section was desolate, and Samus could only assume it was because all of its occupants were out watching over the prisoners. "It's quiet right now, but we can't assume no one knows we're here."

Chance and Calline huddled close to Samus as the three of them hid in the alley and the bounty hunter scanned their surroundings.

"How far do you think we are from the main computer systems room?"

"No as far away as you might think," Samus replied as she read the map inside of her HUD. "They tend to keep the systems as far away from the inmates as possible for obvious reasons, and right now, we're no where near where the inmates live."

The lemur creature smiled cautiously. While he could tell Samus was irritated they were so far from where Elisa was most likely being kept, he was just happy to be far away from any galactic criminals being held here. There was no doubt in his mind that most were dangerous and this was probably where they were holding any POWs leftover from the Space Pirate War.

After Samus finished scanning the map, she turned and looked toward her two companions. "It's this way," she said as she began leading them through the rows of buildings.

Chance and Calline followed close behind knowing it was only a matter of time before they ran into any guards. The anticipation of what was to come was unnerving, however, Chance found being around Samus to be almost as frightening. With her powersuit and helmet on, she looked like a completely different person, and he could not see her face behind her green visor. Her voice was deeper and she carried herself much more like a predator stalking its prey than like the humanoid woman he had come to know aboard the ship. It was as though she had completely shifted modes and, to some extent, personalities. She spoke with confidence, authority, and perhaps even a bit of bloodlust in her terse words.

To Samus, however, these changes were so normal she barely noticed them. This was simply who she was on missions, the Hunter so many had come to fear over the years. Just because her enemies now wore the uniform of the Federation, it did not mean that her approach to them would be any different than any other force she had fought over the years.

As the group continued forward, Samus seemed to know where she was going, and the other two stayed close on her heels, terrified of getting lost in hostile territory. At one point, the hunter held up her hand and gestured for them to take cover behind what looked like a large, rectangular trash compactor. She followed, keeping her cannon raised and positioning her body in between her companions and the approaching pair of guards.

The two guards wore black Federation military uniforms, but they were unlike any species Chance and Calline had seen before. They were at least ten feet tall and looked like massive, muscular reptiles. They walked upright on two legs as their tongues flicked in and out to taste the air and their golden eyes looked around with black slits for pupils. One seemed to slow down as they were passing where the little group was hidden behind the trash compactor, but its companion said something to it, and it lost interest as they continued on their way. All three intruders breathed a collective sigh of relief.

In Samus's case, she did not fear the lizard creatures the same way the other two did, but she was glad not to have to kill them. She wanted to go as long as they possibly could without drawing attention to themselves, and she wanted to try to keep the body count on this mission to a minimum. When at last they were certain the guards were out of earshot, Samus beckoned for the other two to follow her, and their group continued on its way.

They must have been close to their destination when they had seen the guards because it was not long before they came across and unremarkable looking but heavily guarded building. It was a square, metal building, no taller than any of the others around it, but there were at least four of the muscular lizard creatures on each side, and they were carrying heavy-looking rifles. Their massive tails flicked back and forth as their long black tongues occasionally emerged from their mouths and flicked through the air.

"Oh great," Chance whispered as the three companions crouched between two other buildings. "Is that the systems room? How are we going to get in with all of those things guarding it?"

"Chancey," Samus said, her voice sounding irritated, "this is the most heavily guarded prison in Federation territory. Did you honestly think it would be easy to get into the systems room without getting caught?"

The lemur creature didn't say anything as the three of them silently continued to watch the guards at their posts. Eventually, they saw the two guards they had encountered earlier come in and relieve two of the others as they took their place. No one was sure exactly what time it was or how the rotation schedule worked, but Samus knew they would have to act quickly, just in case it was time for the prisoners to return to this area for simulated night.

"Calline," she whispered to the girl after a while, "what's the range on your powers? How far away can you create a diversion?"

The girl looked surprised as the mercenary addressed her and thought about it for a moment. "I can reach where those lizard things are, but it would require a lot of concentration."

"What about past them? Can you do anything to create a diversion on the other side of the building so we can distract them?" Samus knew it would not take much effort for her to kill all of the guards, but she also knew that the moment she started shooting would be the moment alarms would begin blaring and the whole station would go on an even stricter lock down.

Calline looked beyond the heavily guarded building, but the entire station was desolate and artificial. There were no trees or flora of any kind, only steel plating and gray metal buildings. As she stared at the empty buildings, however, she had an idea.

"The windows," the girl said. "I can create cracks in the windows and make them shatter. Even at this range. It wouldn't take too much effort. I can break a window on that building down there, and they'll have to go check it out."

Samus nodded. "Do it."

Calline took a deep breath as she looked away from the bounty hunter and toward the window she had selected on a far building. It was a daunting task compared to what she had been doing recently, but her training with the Federation Force had been intense and had prepared her for these types of challenges. As she exhaled, she focused all of her will upon the far window, and within seconds, she could feel micro-cracks forming in it. As the cracks began to spread from their central point, it became easier to create them, and it was only a matter of minutes before the whole window shattered. Loudly.

One of the massive lizards growled as all of them raised their weapons and looked toward the sound of the shattering. Several of them ran toward it to try to figure out the cause, and Samus and crew took this as an opportunity to head toward the building. The mercenary moved quickly and silently, the other members of her party clinging to her back as they had been when they landed on this station.

She was far quicker than any of the guards as she shot her grapple beam toward a second-story ventilation shaft and pulled it off, catching it in her free hand so it would not clatter to the ground. Within seconds, she had jumped up to it, helping Calline and Chance into it before rolling into her morphball form and following behind them as they led the way through the vent shaft. It was not long before they found an exit and crawled out into it, Samus following behind and unmorphing as soon as there was room.

"Um…" Chance stammered as he looked at the bounty hunter standing where the orange ball had once been. "W-what just happened? What was that?"

Samus ignored him as she stepped farther into the room and looked around. She let out a light gasp as she realized they had found it, the main systems control room. All around them were servers and massive holoscreens. There were wires and buttons for days, things she had no knowledge of and could only hope Chance recognized.

"This is it," she muttered as she looked around. Part of her was relieved to have found it so quickly, but another part of her was nervous that a scan of these computers might show that Elisa was not actually being held in this particular prison complex. "Chance…"

"I'm already on it, Samus!" he said as he ran over to one of the holoscreens. While Samus might not have known where to begin, the lemur creature was very familiar with this particular brand of technology and quickly went to work on it. It was a relief for Samus to see him work so quickly, especially considering she barely even recognized the language any of the text was written in.

"So," he asked after a few minutes of tense silence, "your girl, what's her name?"

"Elisa," Samus replied, holding her breath. "Elisa Rodriguez."

"On it," he said as he began furiously typing on a holo-keyboard and inputting codes. Samus watched in wonder, knowing she would have been very stuck at this point if she had attempted the mission alone. "Got it! Rodriguez, Elisa! Cellblock C! Cell 8686!"

Samus breathed a sigh of relief as she felt emotion well up in her chest. She was here. Elisa was here. And she would soon be reunited with her.

"Chance," she ordered, "stay here. Use the systems to create a diversion elsewhere. I'm going in."

"Yes, Ma'am!" the lemur said with a flick of his long tail.

Samus did not even bother to acknowledge Calline as she turned and made a dash back for the vent, changing into her morphball form as she traveled through the shaft. Her map showed where Cellblock C was, and that was all that mattered to her now. As she reached the outside of the building, she crawled out of the vent shaft and silently made her way onto the roof above so as not to attract the attention of the guards below. She shot a missile into the distance, and performed a continuous space jump to "fly" away from the building before anyone looked back and saw her. Landing in a secluded alley, she stood and raised her cannon, ready for the hunt once more.

At this point, she was less willing to hold her fire if anyone crossed her path. In solitude once more, she would not let anything come between her and Elisa, not now that she knew they were on the same space station.

Samus could hear alarms blaring in the distance as she ran to where Elisa was being held, but she ignored them, figuring that they were the result of the diversion Chance was creating. As she got closer to Cellblock C, she realized it was a maximum security cellblock, and even if other prisoners were out during the day, those kept within Cellblock C would not be allowed to leave. Elisa was definitely inside.

She tried to be as stealthy as possible, but she was anxious to rescue her love, and she knew she was taking some unnecessary risks. As a couple of lizard guards spotted her, she charred them out of existence with a few well-placed plasma beam bursts. On a whim, she cut off one of their scaly hands and took it with her as the found the barred entrance to the cellblock. Several more lizards spotted her, but she fried them all with the plasma beam.

Alarms were blaring all around her now, and she quickly used the severed hand to gain access to the front door by scanning it on the identification pad. The barred, metal doors opened just in time for her to rush in before they slammed closed behind her. Red lights were flashing in the prison as metal shielding came down from the ceiling to cut off her access to any of the hallways around her. With a ruthless ferocity, Samus sent a super missile flying through one of them, blowing it clean off.

Cell 8686 was marked clearly on her map, and she traveled toward it relentlessly, blowing up any doors or guards that got in her way. She was done with stealth and trying to keep a low body count. This was it. She was going to rescue Elisa, and she didn't care who or what she had to destroy to do it.

Her heart skipped a beat as she reached the 8000 section. As she walked along the rows of cells, their denizens glared out at her. Many were former Space Pirates who had been imprisoned since the end of the war. Many of them recognized her despite her altered appearance, but she knew she had not been the one to put any of them behind bars. She never left a Space Pirate alive long enough to bring them in.

As she approached cell 8686, she slowed down, her heart racing as she anticipated seeing Elisa and fearing what condition she might find the woman in. She worried about any injuries she might have sustained during torture or if they had been starving her. She worried about whether Elisa would even recognize her or if the woman would be fearful of her new appearance.

But Samus did not have to worry long about the state in which she would find her lover, because as she approached cell 8686 and peered inside behind its bars, she found it was completely empty.


	22. Chapter 22: If the Real Thing Don't Do the Trick

Hector couldn't help grinning as he and Abridgette walked through the shipyards at Aliehs-III. He was not sure what he had expected to happen when Abby had suggested going to Admiral Dane for help with the mission, but he had never thought that it would be this easy to get into space and head straight for their destination. A small group of Federation Marines had flown them here while the Fleet Admiral waited back at the base, and now he and Abby were on their own as they searched for the private hangar where Samus stored her second ship.

It was amusing watching Abridgette adjust to the gravity on this planet. Hector had been here several times over the years with his mother when she docked her regular ship so he was a little more used to the gravity than she was. They felt so much lighter here, and Hector caught Abby jumping a couple of times in the weaker gravity as they made their way through the dark, bare-bones corridors of the ship docking complex.

There were only three people in the universe who had ever had access to either of Samus's ships, and only two of them were still living. Other than Samus herself, Hector was the only one the DNA scanners would recognize as authorized to access or pilot any of her ships. Even Elisa had never gotten that privilege, but it had more to do with the fact that Samus had never wanted the Federation to be able to compel Elisa to access anything of hers in case they ever found themselves in this current scenario.

Hector wondered how long Samus had known it would come to this eventually. His father had often warned him that the mercenary was flighty and not as far in the good graces of the Federation as the media made her out to be. He had not truly understood that at first, and even after their disastrous mission to LV-426, he still had not realized just how much of a schism had formed between different factions of the Federation. General Malkovich, Former Chairman Keaton, Admiral Dane, and Samus had all seemed to be on the same side, but when Keaton had left office and Chairman McKinnon had taken his place, Hector became aware of just how real tensions between the two factions were. The repeal of the bioweapons ban was not even the half of it. Samus had been arrested for the alleged murder of General Malkovich, and even though she had been acquitted, Hector was all too aware of the fact that the Feds were just chomping at the bit to bring her up on some other charges.

He and Abby walked through the docking complex in silence as different scenarios played out in both of their minds. The enormity of what they were doing finally hit them as they slowed to a stop in front of a heavy metal hatch.

"This is it," Hector said as he held up his palm to a scanner and allowed another one to scan his retinas. When both of those scans came up as a match, a small needle came out of the wall, pricked his finger, and disappeared. The holoscreen displayed a 100% DNA match with authorized entity Hector Aran Fields as the metal doors hissed open.

Hector and Abby walked wordlessly through the doors as they closed again behind them. The hanger was small and pitch dark save for the golden-orange and green glow of the hunter-class gun ship in the center. It was similar in design to Samus's other ship, but it was sleeker and split into three segments. Deadly cannons were visible on each side as it softly hovered on anti-gravity thrusters. Most of it was the same golden-orange as the Varia suit, but the forward window was green like Samus's helmet. Hector recognized the elements of Chozo design in the ship, and he knew it was unlike anything the Federation military had ever been able to create. And its unauthorized existence was highly illegal.

"Wow," Abby said, staring up at the sleek, lethal ship in awe. "I knew about Samus's other ship but this one is…"

"As deadly as she is," Hector finished as he remembered seeing the gunship for the first time. "And impossible to detect when it's in full stealth mode. She flew this onto the Space Pirate homeworld, and none of them noticed it, not even when it was docked out in the open. Impossible to detect on radar or surveillance equipment, capable of becoming invisible to the eye… there's a reason she had to report this ship as destroyed after the Phaaze Incident. There's no way the Federation would have let her keep something like this the way things are now."

Abby just nodded as she continued gazing up at the ship. "And that was a decade ago."

Hector shifted his view from his mother's ship to the way its soft golden glow reflected off of his girlfriend's form. He couldn't believe she was here with him, working with him on an expedition to try to save Samus and Elisa, an expedition that they had almost no chance of completing. And yet, she was by his side and had been since before he had even known he was the son of the legendary Samus Aran.

He unconsciously touched the pocket of his jacket in which he held the handgun and the tiny box. He had loved Abridgette since they had been in high school together, and as they stood together, united in their determination to face impossible odds, he loved her more than ever.

Silently, his hand found the small of her back as he gently maneuvered her body closer to him and she allowed herself to fall into his arms. They embraced as a wordless understanding flowed between them. It was as though this were their destiny, to travel into space and fight for peace and justice and all of those other grandiose abstract nouns that danced through their minds as youthful innocence romanticized the battle before them.

"We should be going," Abby whispered as she looked up at Hector.

But neither of the young lovers wanted the moment to end, and as she wrapped her arm around his neck, he pulled her up and their lips met in a tender but passionate kiss. He cupped her cheek in his palm as they savored the taste of one another, alone in the dark hanger with only the golden glow of the ship.

"Abby," Hector said after a moment, pulling away from her mouth as he looked down into her round and eager eyes, "I know this probably isn't the best moment to say this, but there's something I need to get off my chest before we get onto that ship. And I don't know if I'll ever get the chance again…"

"Then say it," she said as she clasped her hands tighter around the back of his neck and pulled herself up to his height.

"Abby," he continued, gently pushing her down until her feet were flat on the ground once more. Slowly, he lowered himself until he was down on one knee before her, his trembling hand fumbling for the small box in the inner pocket of his jacket. "I know this isn't how either of us ever pictured this moment happening, and the timing is all wrong, but I love you and I know I'll always love you. We've known each other since we were kids, and we've been through so much together, and I want to keep going through things like that and being with you…. I'm sorry. I know I'm no good with words. I just mean, I want us to be together like this forever, and there are no reservations in my mind about that."

He produced the small box from his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal a small but brilliant diamond ring as he gazed up at her longingly.

"Abridgette Malkovich, will you marry me?"

Abby stared down at Hector in disbelief. She was lost for words and the silent seconds turned into silent minutes as she regarded him in shock, the light slowly fading from his face as the moments progressed.

"H-Hector…" she stammered after a few chillingly awkward minutes. "It's beautiful and I'm flattered… really. I just… this isn't what I expected. Not here or now, not like this…"

"Abby—"

"But it is beautiful, Hector. And yes, I do. I accept… really. I want to marry you." She smiled sadly but did not take the ring from Hector's hand. "But… this isn't an apocalypse proposal, is it? The kind people make in movies when they think there's a good chance they're going to die and won't have to follow through with it?"

"Abby." Hector gently clasped her hands as he looked up at her. "I know we're young and yeah, maybe we don't have much time left given what we're about to do. But as far as I'm concerned, we've been together for so long I can't imagine life without you. I bought the ring long before any of this began, and I was going to wait until we graduate, but I want to give it to you now. Not because I think we're about to die and won't have to follow through with it, but because I want us to live and I want to know when we come through the other side of this that we're going to be together forever. I want to marry you."

Abridgette smiled as tears fell softly from her eyes. "And I want to marry you too, Hector. Forever. We'll come through this like we've come through everything else over the years and we'll build our lives together. You and me."

Hector grinned as she held out her hand and he slipped the ring onto her finger before standing upright and pulling her into a passionate embrace. Their mouths found each other, and they were once again lost in a moment of ecstasy, the only two people in a dark universe lit with a golden glow.

Reluctantly, Abridgette pulled back and gazed up at Hector, their hot breath in the air all around them as they yearned to be closer.

"But right now," she said as she put some distance between herself and her fiancé, "we need to focus on the mission."

"Right," Hector replied, practically panting as he turned away from her to look at the gunship. "I guess we need to be going then."

Wordlessly, the young lovers split apart as Hector led the way to the ship. As he approached it, he waved his hand over a panel on the side of one of the thrusters and a string of Chozo writing glowed in green light across it. Hector touched the symbols in the appropriate order, and they flashed a couple of times before the airlock hissed open and a platform descended from the center of ship. He and Abridgette stepped into it as he entered another code on a holoscreen that appeared before them and both were transported up into the ship.

This ship was very different than Samus's other ship. Instead of entering into a medical bay, they found themselves in the confines of a stark steel-plated room. Cells of missile-proof glass lined the walls, enough to house six prisoners at once. The door to the main part of the ship was heavily armored and locked. Abby huddled close by Hector as he walked up to it and scanned his palm on another holoscreen. He was apparently an authorized match because the locks began to turn and the heavy door opened to give them both passage into the ship before closing behind them.

They were now in the ship's highly advanced medical bay, and sterile metal surfaces stared back at them. It was a cold, lifeless sort of room, and there were only two other doors. One led to a compact bathroom, and the other led to the cockpit. There were no real living quarters on this ship, but the cockpit and medical bay were both stocked with MRE's and various guns from Samus's extensive arsenal.

Abby had seen a lot of guns growing up as the daughter of a General, but Samus had some rifles that she had never even known existed. She doubted soldiers in the Federation Marines were outfitted half as well as she and Hector could be if they took some of Samus's guns. It seemed like overkill to her for the bounty hunter to have such an arsenal when she also possessed the powersuit, but she also knew Samus was the type of person who liked to be prepared for anything. Still, she had only ever known the bounty hunter in a civilian context, and she was starting to understand why Hector had initially been scared of his long-estranged mother.

Hector opened the hatch to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seat. He placed his palm on one of the scanners and the control panels came to life, various alien symbols glowing as Hector entered specific codes. Within moments they could hear the soft hum of the engines.

Abby watched in awe as he input the coordinates of the Federation Military Prison. He worked as though he had flown this ship a hundred times, and although Abby had know he had come to space many times with his mother, she had not realized the extent of his training.

"There's only room for one of us in here," Hector said as he input the access code and the hangar doors began to open. "I'd recommend sitting in the medical bay."

 _"Stealth systems activated,"_ the computerized voice of the ship said as they began to hover off of the ground. _"Destination: Federation Military Prison. Target: Rodriguez, Elisa. Scanning Federal databases."_

Abby's eyes widened. "This thing can hack the Feds? Does anyone know about this?"

Hector shrugged as he kept his eyes focused on the maps and the forward window. "Does it matter? I already told you this ship is illegal."

"You didn't mention it could hack into military data!"

Hector looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Abridgette. "Did you really think Samus got to where she was by playing by the rules?"

"I guess it makes sense considering where she is now…"

The young man huffed angrily, but he turned back to the controls. "I'm going to ignore that comment."

Abby did not have a chance to respond before the ship flew forward, out of the hangar, and continued to accelerate until they made the leap into hyperspace. She had been in hyperspace before, but only on a few occasions. Aside from her father's funeral at the Capitol on Daiban, she had not been to space since she was a child. Hyperspace was always disconcerting to her. Moving faster than the speed of light, they could not see anything in the pitch-blackness outside of the ship. She held onto the doorframe as she stared at Hector in the pilot's seat.

They did not travel for long in hyperspace, Samus's ship obviously far faster than anything she had ever been in, but when they reentered back into regular space, Abby thought her heart was going to stop.

"What are you doing?" she demanded, staring in horror through the forward window. "We're surrounded!"

"Relax," Hector retorted, his earlier irritation still present in his tone. "They can't see us."

The little golden ship was now in the heart of the heavily guarded territory around the prison station, and Federation gunships were all around them as they flew ever closer to the station.

 _"Incoming data,"_ the ship said suddenly, causing Abby to jump. _"Target located. Prisoner number 24601. Rodriguez, Elisa. Holding cell 8686."_

"How does it know that?" Abby asked, creeped out by the ship's intelligence.

"I never ask about these things," Hector replied. "Some of Samus's stuff is beyond anything else in the universe."

"This ship shouldn't exist…"

"Well it does." Hector frowned as he looked ahead. "I'm going in. Keep this thing in a low hover. I'm overriding the DNA scans so you should be able to pilot it." He grabbed a metallic compact off of the dashboard and put it in his jacket pocket as he stood up and the ship continued to lower itself into the prison complex. "I'll call up to the ship when it's time to pick up me and Elisa."

Abby stared at him in disbelief. "You're going in alone? To the most heavily guarded military prison in the galaxy?"

Hector grinned mischievously at her as he took a shotgun off the wall and slung it over his back. He grabbed a rifle as well as a utility belt filled with tools Abby did not recognize.

"Do you have a better plan?"

Abby frowned. "I could come with you."

"But then who would pilot the ship?"

"I don't know. Who pilots it when Samus goes on missions?"

Hector shook his head. "She can control it with her suit. I don't have that luxury. But I do have four years of training with her, and I've been dying to try it out."

Abby sighed as she walked over to the pilot's chair and slowly lowered herself into it. It felt too large for her form. "Just be careful and don't do anything stupid."

Hector laughed as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "I think that ship has already sailed."

The young woman half smiled at her lover's comment but frowned as she watched him disappear through the hatch. They were gliding low over the tops of the buildings now, and though the ship was apparently invisible, she knew Hector wasn't.

Hector waited until the ship came to a hovering stop over the roof of one of the buildings. A glance at a digital map on one of Samus's watches let him know that he was in an area called "cellblock C" and was directly over the 8000 section of the holding cells. With a deep breath, he stepped onto the exit platform and allowed it to lower him until he was about ten feet above the building's roof. As he jumped down, he did a forward roll and landed gracefully on his feet as the ship glided away and faded from his vision.

The young man swallowed hard as he realized he was alone now and the enormity of what he was doing really sank in. He wasn't Samus. He couldn't do what Samus could do. But he didn't have to be Samus. He just needed to remember his training and get Elisa out of jail. As soon as that happened, he and Abby would also become fugitives, but he could not think about that now.

As soon as he spotted a vent, he ran for it, keeping an eye out for any guards who might be in the area. He quickly tore the cover off of it and slipped in, down into the vent shafts. Once he was inside, he crawled slowly and as quietly as he could while keeping the rifle pointed in front of him and ready. He only stopped a couple of times when he heard the steps of guards on the ground below, but he continued as soon as the guards were out of earshot.

The watch vibrated to let him know when he had reached the right location, and he waited and listened before kicking out the vent and hopping out into the row of cells. Several golden eyes of Space Pirates looked out at him, and he realized they must have been prisoners from the war. A chill ran over his flesh. He had never seen a Space Pirate before, and their grotesque forms were even worse than he had heard his mother describe. The air around them smelled like putrid, rotting flesh.

He did the best he could to ignore the Pirates' piercing stares and the stench in the air as he looked for cell 8686. When he finally found, he looked through the missile-proof glass to see a very ragged and dirty humanoid form. He almost thought he had the wrong cell until he saw the robotic right arm and realized that the woman under the matted hair and torn up rags was, in fact, the same woman he had come here to rescue.

"Elisa!" he called out, and the woman looked up at him with round, terrified eyes. Her face was badly bruised, and there was dried blood mingled with the dirt on her ragged gray jumpsuit.

"H-Hector?" she choked out, her voice hoarse and broken as she timidly approached him.

The young man had never seen her or anyone else in such condition, and it frightened him at first, but he quickly remembered his mission.

"Elisa, I'm going to get you out of here."

She stared back, her eyes nervous but empty. He realized she had been tortured and shuddered to think of the extent of it.

"Hold on." He pulled a device from his belt, and as he pushed a button on it, a red laser knife appeared. Quickly, he used it to burn through the glass on her cell. It was slow work, and he checked over her shoulder constantly for anyone coming. Eventually, he was able to cut a hole large enough for Elisa to crawl through, but as soon as he pushed out the glass and extended his hand to her, alarm bells began to ring.

"Come on!" he shouted as he helped a very sore and unstable Elisa through the hole. He realized her right arm was completely dead and would be a hindrance as they tried to escape. She would not be able to crawl back through the vents with him, and he realized he had no idea how else they would get out.

Grabbing her good arm, he ran with her toward one of the hatches that was closing, and they just barely made it before it slammed shut behind him. Hector and Elisa ran through the corridors as quickly as they could as red lights flashed and Space Pirates leered and hissed at them from their cells.

His heart began pounding in his chest as two massive reptilian guards came at them. They were dressed in black Federation uniforms, and their beady red eyes were set on Hector. Before he was even aware he was doing it, Hector had the rifle shouldered and began firing at them, hitting both creatures square in the chest as they tumbled to the ground.

He and Elisa ran quickly over their paralyzed bodies, and at first they seemed to be gaining some ground, but within minutes, a whole swarm of reptilian guards appeared as they rounded a corner and realized they were trapped. Hector tried firing his rifle, but even though he hit some of them, he could not keep up, and shots burst forth from their ranks as well. One grazed across his shoulder, searing his clothes clean through and melting his flesh as he screamed.

Hector fell back, trembling in pain as the enemies advanced on him and Elisa. She grabbed the rifle and began to fire at the guards, but it was no use. Though she knew it was useless, the former police officer took a deep breath as she charged a rifle shot and prepared to fire it, but as she pulled the trigger, a massive burst of plasma shot out from behind her.

The single plasma shot felled three of the guards in one hit as a barrage of missiles followed. Hector stared in disbelief as explosions rocked the enemy's ranks and forced them to scatter, many turning tail and running as their fallen comrades were burned to a crisp by the merciless rain of plasma.

Hector's hair stood on end as he watched them scatter, only to turn behind him and look to see something even more terrifying, the being who had fired the shots that killed at least two dozen prison guards right before his eyes.

The being looked like a humanoid clad in a type of yellow armor he had never seen before. Around the armor was an organic-looking orange layer. It had a cannon for a forearm and a red helmet with an opaque green visor. Hector was about to say something when the mysterious warrior tilted its head almost curiously.

"We have to stop meeting like this," it said in a surprisingly familiar voice.


	23. Chapter 23: You Better Make Up Something Quick

Samus stared at the empty prison cell in shock, but her emotions quickly turned to anger as she could feel her whole body tensing up and her trigger fingers twitching inside the arm cannon. As she heard the sound of some of the reptilian prison guards coming down the halls, she pivoted around with lightning speed and roared with rage as she incinerated all of them within seconds.

Someone had gotten to Elisa before her, and whoever that person was would pay with their life when she finally got her hands on them. She knew it must not have been anyone authorized by the prison because there was a hole cut in the missile-proof glass of Elisa's cell just large enough to drag the human woman through. She could only imagine it was one of the same Federation goons who had set her up back on the B.S.L. or perhaps even some bounty hunter who had thought to use her wife as bait to get to her.

Whoever it was, Samus was ready to hunt them down and flay them alive if that's what it came down to, and she would only be that merciful if she found Elisa unharmed.

Alarms blared all around her as red lights flashed, but she was already seeing red as she took off down a nearby corridor. It was pointless to go back the way she came, but maybe if she went a different way she would have a chance to catch whoever had taken Elisa.

Samus ran recklessly, not bothering with her usual stealthy, predatory style. She ran like a jaguar in hot pursuit of prey she could not even see. Anytime a guard rounded a corner and came at her, it was met with a swift death at the end of her arm cannon as she kept running without missing a step.

I did not take long, however, before she saw a whole horde of the reptilian guards in the distance, but they were not coming at her as the others had. Instead, they seemed to be in pursuit of something else, and she could only imagine it was their common enemy, the one that had kidnapped Elisa. Samus bolted after them, picking them off easily with plasma shots as she made her way to the head of the pack just in time to see what they were pursuing. She had a filly charged blast of plasma ready to take out the scum that had taken her Elisa, and she was ready to fire it off as soon as she saw them.

But as the people the guards had been pursuing came into view, Samus held her fire for a moment. Though it took a second for her to register what she was seeing, she recognized the two figures quickly. One was a very ragged and badly beaten Elisa, and the other was a young man she knew all too well. Her son. Hector.

The sight of them both momentarily stunned her, but as she saw another horde of guards closing in on them, a shot rang out and struck Hector's shoulder. He fell back in pain as Elisa took his rifle and tried to hold off the advancing guards, but with only one arm she was fumbling just to hold it.

With a scream like something completely inhuman, Samus let her charged plasma shot fly at the guards, incinerating several of them on contact as she rained plasma upon the rest of the scattering lot. The guards that stayed to fight quickly met their end as she shot down every single one of them. Only the ones that turned tail and ran managed to survive, and that was only because the hunter was more concerned with the two humans before her than she was with them.

As the corridor cleared out and only Samus and the two humans remained, she ceased her fire and steadied her breathing. A glance at the two humans told her they did not recognize her altered appearance and were not sure if she was going after them next. Samus just looked at her wife and son, focusing on her breathing until her mind was focused and clear enough to form words.

"We have to stop meeting like this," she said to the young man, and his face changed as he recognized her voice.

"S-Samus?" he asked, slowly standing up a little straighter as he studied her changed form. "Samus, is that you?"

The bounty hunter just nodded and sighed. "My reckless idiot son. What messes you're always getting yourself into."

"Samus…" Elisa said, stepping forward. Her voice was hoarse and broken as her robotic right arm dangled lifelessly at her side. "You shouldn't have come here…"

Samus could feel her chest well up with relief at seeing her son and her beloved alive once more, but her heart also broke at Elisa's battered look. She walked forward slowly until she was close enough to gently caress her face with her free hand. Elisa seemed timid at first but seemed to relax and savor the soft touch despite the fact that Samus was still in her powersuit.

"I thought I'd never see you again," the bounty hunter whispered, wishing she could dematerialize the suit and take Elisa fully into her arms and kiss her.

"Why did you come?" Elisa asked tiredly as her big brown eyes looked up at Samus's visor. "You promised you would never endanger yourself by coming for me in case it was a trap."

Samus smiled, though she knew no one would see it. "Some promises are meant to be broken."

Alarms still blared wildly in the background as she looked up to see Hector staring at her. He was clutching his shoulder where his clothes were torn and it was burned and bleeding. Samus wanted to comfort him as well, but she knew there was no time.

"Hector," she asked, "how did you get here?"

"Your ship," he replied as he walked toward her and Elisa. "Abby and I got your other ship from your garage at Aliehs-III. She's piloting it now. We activated all of the cloaking features."

Despite his recklessness, Samus was glad the young man had the foresight to actually activate the cloaking features like she had taught him. She might not have liked the situation they were in, but she was glad to know at least some of his training had stuck. "Tell Abby to fly down over cellblock C. We need to get Elisa to the roof and get you both back on the ship and out of here before they send in reinforcements that make those lizard things look like a joke."

"And then we get out of here?" Hector asked.

"Negative. I have two allies here in the main systems room creating a diversion. We'll have to swoop down and get them." Samus turned to Elisa. "Can you walk?"

The tired looking woman nodded. "If it means getting out of this hellhole, I can do anything."

Samus just nodded. "Okay, follow me."

The bounty hunter took off down one of the corridors, her wife and son following close behind. She could not travel at her usual speed, particularly given Elisa's condition, but they were fortunate enough not to encounter anymore of the lizard things as they made their way to a stairwell that would lead them to the roof. It was almost too convenient, and the absence of enemies put Samus on edge.

"Abby's almost here!" Hector yelled excitedly as the little group climbed the stairs. As soon as we get out of here, sh—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Samus scooped up both Hector and Elisa and jumped down three flights of stairs to the ground floor. As the landed, a burst of plasma exploded where they had just been on the stairs. Hector could only stare up, stunned, as Samus put him and Elisa on the ground before assuming a fighting stance with her cannon raised. Elisa nearly fell over, but Hector caught her just in time.

"Stay back!" Samus shouted as she desperately scanned the area for any sign of their attacker. It did not take long, though, because within seconds an armored form jumped down from high on the stairwell and began firing more plasma blasts at them. Again, Samus could not retaliate because she had to lift her two companions and move them to safety.

The form that advanced on them was humanoid in structure, and it might have even been a human being beneath the armor, but there was not way to tell. Its armor was gray and looked like a modified version of the Federation Marine armor, but its right forearm was a cannon, and its visor was red. Samus could feel her pulse rising when she realized it must have been designed, at least in part, by reverse engineering her powersuit. Even its plasma beam blasts rivaled hers.

"Hector," she said as she squared off with the armored marine, "get to the ship at all costs. I'll cover you."

Hector did not even take the time to nod before he lifted Elisa up into his arms and made a break for the staircase. Running at full speed, he was almost superhumanly fast, and he was strong enough that the woman's slight form was almost nothing for him to carry.

The gray armored being tried to follow him, but Samus met it head-on with a barrage of missiles. It nimbly dodged her attack, but her intent had only been to drive it away from her son, not to hit it. It returned a volley of plasma, but Samus was too quick, easily dodging each shot and rolling into an electrified screw attack as she threw herself at the antagonist.

As the attack collided, she could hear the figure within the armor shout in a deep human voice, but she did not care. As soon as it was on the ground, she fired a super missile, striking it directly in its chest. The figure cried out once more but then remained still. Samus's scan visor let her know the man was merely unconscious, but that was good enough for her.

She was just about to turn and try to catch up with the others when an electrified shot that resembled the wave beam flew her way. She barely had time to pivot and dodge as she noticed it had come from a similarly gray armor-clad marine, this time with a bright yellow visor as opposed to a red one.

"Adam," she asked the AI as she quickly scanned the newcomer. "Who are these guys, and why are they using my beam weapons?"

She dodged another wave beam shot, returning fire with her plasma beam, but the shots missed their target.

"Lady," the AI said as he analyzed the scans, "I'm not certain but I believe this is another segment of the Federation Force. A hunter segment. I have reason to believe their weapons systems may have been designed by reverse engineering some of your technology."

"No shit," Samus grunted as she dodged another wave beam attack, only to be hit square in the back with a charged plasma shot by the newly-conscious red-visored warrior.

She landed skillfully on her feet and sent two missiles flying. This time, both made contact with their targets as the marines were thrown backward several feet. She was about to finish them off when suddenly her blood ran cold and all of her senses shot up on high alert. Her reflex in dodging the next attack bordered on precognition as she leapt backward from the green and blue electrical beam strike heading for her. Even as she managed to dodge it, her visor filled with static, rendering her momentarily blind.

Her sight came back within a moment, but in that time, both the red and yellow marines had managed to land charged shots of their respective beams, nearly throwing her off her feet. But Samus kept her balance, and as she did, she glared at the newcomer to the fray, a green-visored warrior clad like the rest of them. Instead of an arm cannon, however, he held a massive gun that pulsed with the green and blue energy.

"Adam," Samus said, actual fear in her voice, "that green and blue electrical beam, its like the green and blue bombus from back in the pyrosphere on the ship where you—"

"I know, Lady," he said calmly. "You need to be very cautious. We know its presence has the ability to cause your life support systems to malfunction. I can't even fathom what a direct hit would do."

Samus steeled herself, keeping a watchful eye on the green warrior as she sent missiles at the other two. She tried to send a super missile at the green one, but it skillfully dodged and sent back a burst of the electrical energy faster than she would have thought possible. The speed of the other warrior's reflexes caught Samus off-guard, and though she managed to evade the hit, her temporary blindness once again allowed the other two warriors to land charged beam shots square in her chest and back.

The bounty hunter gasped as she hit the ground, the static still partially obstructing her vision. She was only down a second, though, as she jumped right back up to her feet, ready for battle.

But that moment was the only opening the green-visored warrior needed, and as she was preoccupied with the red one's plasma shots, it fired off the green and blue beam once more.

Samus barely had time to register what was going on as her visor turned completely to static and her armor became heavy and restrictive. She could feel the force of the energy pulsing through her as it threw her backward, slamming her hard into a wall.

Alarms were blaring inside her helmet, but she was completely paralyzed as a sharp, agonizing pain shot through her chest. As her vision returned to her and she regained her ability to move, she realized she was panting heavily, but more importantly, she realized that her powersuit had been forcefully deactivated, and she was no longer wearing any armor.

Samus stared in shock as the three warriors advanced on her. In this form, she would not be able to handle even a single charged beam shot. Her only hope was to dodge. But weakened by the force of the green and blue beam, her movements were sluggish. While she was able to avoid being hit by a plasma shot, she did not even see the ice beam coming.

It struck her in the leg, completely freezing the lower half of her body as she fell painfully to the ground. She grunted as the pain from the cold seared through her, painfully aware of her Metroid DNA as she struggled to breathe and looked up to see a fourth warrior. This one wore a blue visor.

"What do you know?" she heard a female voice say as she felt a heavy knee on her back. The warrior jerked Samus's arms behind her and cuffed them as she lay breathless on the ground. "I would have thought she would put up more of a fight than that, being a legend and all. Good teamwork, guys!"

"Don't celebrate just yet," the red one said as he came closer to them. "We still need to get the blood samples and deliver her to Secretary Harper."

The blue one laughed as Samus felt one of them thrust a needle into the side of her neck as they began drawing her blood into glass vials. Her body was still paralyzed from the cold as the yellow warrior's weight crushed her chest and made it difficult to breathe.

"If she tries to escape," the blue one said, "I'll just freeze her again. She's nothing without her armor. You know that. I mean, look at her…"

Samus was aware she must have been a pathetic sight indeed, frozen from the waist down, her arms bound behind her back as they drew blood from her like a lab rat. She did not know why they were harvesting blood samples, but she did not care. Her mind was racing and gong wild. Being helpless and immobilized as she was triggered something within her, something buried much deeper than the rage or even bloodlust that often accompanied her into battle. It was something frenzied and primordial, and every survival instinct in her being was screaming at her that she had to escape or she would be killed. Or worse.

"Hold up!" the yellow one yelled to the red one. "That's enough! Don't drain her dry. Harper wants her alive, remember?"

The red one grunted but removed the needle from her neck and collected the blood-filled vials. He didn't bother to try to stop her bleeding. "Relax, will you? It's Samus Aran. She's notorious for being a pain in the ass to kill."

Samus's blood trickled down her neck, burning holes in the floor as it fell. It was then that the bounty hunter had an idea.

Using her fangs, she bit heavily into her tongue as she used her claws to cut up her hands and wrists. The acid from her blood burned through the cuffs binding her hands, and she used all of her strength to roll to the side as she broke her arms free.

"What the hell?" one of the marines shouted as Samus's bloody hands grabbed his leg and burned a hole through his armor.

He tried to kick her off, but she held on with a desperate tenacity. In a last ditch attempt to keep herself alive, she burned through his armor until she was able to sink her claws into the flesh beneath.

"Somebody shoot this crazy bitch!" the blue-visored warrior shouted as Samus began pulling and feeding off of his life energy. It was instinctive, just as it had been when she had faced the stone bounty hunter. She craved his life energy, and as she sucked it from his body, she could feel the strength and feeling returning to her legs.

A hot blast of plasma struck her on the back and burned a swath in her skin, but as she got to her feet, she turned to the warrior and managed to spit a mouthful of her acidic blood into his face. He fell back as the yellow warrior began desperately firing a flurry of wave beam shots at Samus, but she dodged them all with inhuman speed. Her brain was fully wired into fight or flight now, incapable of focusing on anything but her own survival.

Despite her renewed strength, however, she still found herself unable to activate her powersuit, and rather than face four marines while she was severely underpowered, she drew her sidearm and began spraying shots their way as she made a run for the stairwell. Samus didn't need to climb the stairs. Her legs were strong enough that she was able to jump from one handrail to another, all the way up to the top where she found the open door to the roof.

Running for her life, she felt a wave of relief wash over her as she saw the familiar golden orange ship with its green window. It was barely twenty yards away, and as she ran toward it, the hatch descended. She leapt and thrust herself up toward it, tucking into a forward roll before landing safely and being transported up through the hatch into her ship.

She paid Hector and Elisa no mind as she ran up to the cockpit of the ship.

"Get out," she growled at Abby as she took over the pilot's seat and controls.

Abby didn't have to be told twice as she scrambled to get out of Samus's way. The bounty hunter looked frighteningly angry, and the blood running from the wound on her neck did not make matters any better.

"Chance," she said into the microphone on her earpiece, "do you copy?"

"I hear you loud and clear, Samus!" his voice rang back. "How are y—"

"Hurry up and get onto the roof," she snapped. "Don't ask questions. I'm flying over in an orange spaceship. I'm dropping a tractor beam, and I'm gonna use it to grab you and Calline, understand?"

"Y-yes, Samus," he replied, his voice quieter. "N-no problem."

Samus thrust the controls forward, and the ship jerked sharply, throwing everyone else on board off balance as the bounty hunter made a beeline straight for the main systems room. Sure enough, when she got there, Chance and Calline were standing on the roof looking nervous, and she was glad at least something was going according to plan on this mission.

Samus barely took time to aim before she snatched up the two humanoids with the ship's tractor beam and pulled them up through the hatch and into the steel-plated room with the prisoner cells. The lemur-creature and the girl looked around, terrified, until Abby and Elisa went to the back to tend to them. Hector stayed at the front of the ship, in the doorway of the cockpit as he watched Samus input a series of coordinates and sharply pull the ship upward and away from the prison station as she made the jump into hyperspace.

"Samus," Hector asked when he thought she might be starting to calm down a bit, "where are we going?"

The bounty hunter turned to look at him, her blue-green eyes exhausted and wild. "The last place they'd ever think to look for me. Earth."


	24. Chapter 24: Burn It to the Wick

Samus's ship descended rapidly into the Earth's atmosphere, flying in under the cover of darkness in an area shadowed from the sun. To the surprise of everyone but the ship's owner, it seemed completely undetected by any of the various patrol ships that prevented foreign vessels from entering the Earth's atmosphere. According to Samus, they did not have anything to worry about given that this was the same ship that had flown into the Space Pirate Homeworld undetected when they had actively been at war with her, but the others had to experience it for themselves before they actually believed it.

As the ship glided to its destination, no one was willing to ask Samus where she was planning to go. The bounty hunter seemed irritated and on edge, even more so than usual. It had come as a surprise to everyone to see that she had boarded the ship without her powersuit, but again, no one wanted to bring it up to her. Samus had never been the best-tempered person in the galaxy, but she seemed particularly on edge and almost frantic as she piloted the ship roughly through the planet's atmosphere.

There was a burn across her back that tore the leathery black top she wore, and dried blood caked around a wound on her neck. Her hands and wrists were also covered dried blood, but she didn't even acknowledge it as she sat focused intently on the ship's controls. At one point, Chance had inquired as to whether or not he should ask Samus to let him treat the injuries, but Elisa had stopped him, insisting that unless Samus specifically requested that kind of attention, it was best to leave her alone when she got like this.

The bounty hunter did not say anything as she flew into lower airspace above a very familiar looking parcel of land. It was a large estate with a massive house standing upon one of its grassy hills. Small streams ran between them. The entirety of the lot was also covered in a powerful force field, but once Samus input a code on her dash, it temporarily disengaged and allowed the hunter's ship to pass through.

Hector and Elisa immediately recognized the estate as Samus's ship flew in and lowered itself onto the grounds.

"Blackacre?" Elisa asked, her voice still broken but a bit stronger than it had been before.

Samus just nodded. "It's the only place on this planet with people and shielding I trust enough to keep the Feds at bay." She paused. "Aside from our house, but that place will be crawling with people looking for me. There are no actual records of my ties to Morrigan except that she was a former client."

Elisa and Hector were two of the only people in the universe who knew that Morrigan was actually Samus's estranged maternal grandmother. It was a secret she kept well hidden from the rest of the world, and even when she would come to visit Blackacre, she always made sure to make it seem like security business.

The ship landed softly on the ground, and only then did Samus look over her shoulder to the four people who had been standing around the entryway of the cockpit watching her.

"Hector," she said to the boy, "get Abby, Chance and Calline off of this ship and into the house. Explain everything to Morrigan."

"Um… yes, Samus," the young man stammered, wondering why she and Elisa would not be joining them.

As the four of them headed off of the ship, Samus turned to Elisa. "Wait for me in the medical bay. I need to be alone for a minute."

Elisa just nodded and stepped back into the med bay as Samus closed and locked the hatch behind her. As she sat in her pilot's seat, the bounty hunter tiredly hung her head in her hands as she leaned forward and stared down at the dash. Though she had been trying since beginning the flight back to Earth, she found that she was still unable to activate her powersuit, and it was starting to scare her.

"I don't know what to do, Adam," she said quietly into the microphone on her earpiece. "They're all in danger because of me, and now I can't even activate my damn suit. What was that back there? How did they reverse engineer my weapons?"

"That shouldn't come as a surprise to you, Lady," the AI replied, and for just a moment, Samus was able to close her eyes and imagine her old friend was with her once more. "Federation HQ was sending you data downloads to restore your weapons back on the B.S.L. station. You must have realized they would be able to appropriate them for other uses."

"I guess I didn't think about that," Samus replied with a grunt. "So they've got my weapons and a fucking beam that deactivates my powersuit. Makes me wonder why they were bothering to try to capture the SA-X in the first place. They obviously don't need it to kick my ass."

"If you would stop sulking for a minute, Samus, you'll recall that you broke free of their bondage and basically rendered one of those troopers unconscious without the use of your suit. They may have your weapons, but those Federation troopers are far from the real thing."

"Heh." The bounty hunter half-smiled. "That's one way of looking at it. But that's not enough to help me protect Hector, Elisa, and Abby. I never wanted any of them to get caught up in this."

"…Abby's here."

"Yeah. Hector told us, remember?"

The AI seemed to think it over for a minute. "Don't let her know about me."

Samus looked up and pursed her lips. "I won't. I understand."

"I know I'm not the real thing, but I do still care for the real General Malkovich's daughter, and I feel like knowing I exist in this form… well, it could open up old wounds for her. I know it did for you."

The bounty hunter shook her head. "If you're referring to the nightmare I had, forget about it. I've been worse." She was quiet, losing herself momentarily in thought. "Hey, Adam. Your mind is here intact. I've rebuilt an android before. Remember Bishop? Maybe I could get some parts together when all this is over and make you a proper body."

"I'd like that very much, Samus. When this is over, of course."

Samus smiled. "Of course."

She stood slowly, feeling the AI's compact in her belt just to be sure it was safe. Rather than take it inside and risk something happening to it or Abby stumbling across it, she took it out of her pocket and left it and the earpiece securely in a compartment on the dash. She was looking forward to getting into Morrigan's house, but there was something she needed to do first.

As Samus opened the hatch, she found Elisa looking at her with her big brown eyes. Both women looked absolutely ragged and exhausted, one badly bruised and the other covered in dried blood, but as they saw one another they were filled with a new vigor.

"Hey, you," Elisa said hoarsely. She was smiling but the way her right arm hung lifelessly by her side was disconcerting.

"Hey," Samus replied. It didn't convey the impact of what she was feeling, not in the slightest, but her mind was still racing from the battle and the escape to Earth. Instead of saying anything more, she turned to a metal cabinet in the wall of her medical bay and gestured for Elisa to sit down on the exam table.

The other woman complied, watching as Samus took what appeared to be a digital processing chip and a box of the high-precision tools she used when working on robotics. Elisa was silent as she watched Samus roll up the ragged sleeve of her shirt and begin working on the mechanical arm.

The bounty hunter worked with speed and care, and it didn't take long for her to diagnose the issue. Whenever the Federation had taken Elisa into custody, they must have removed the digital processing chip from her robotic arm as a safety precaution. Samus had an abundance of different processing chips for various purposes all over her ship. As she inserted a new one, the nerves connected to Elisa's arm sprang to life, suddenly experiencing every sensation from pain to pleasure and even tickling as Samus inspected the rest of her arm for further damage.

"It actually doesn't look too bad," the bounty hunter said as Elisa flexed her hand and made a fist, glad to have the arm functioning once more. "I think the problem really was just the chip issue."

Elisa winced as the awakening nerves in the arm ran through their pain cycle once more, but she was still just overjoyed to have it working again.

"Samus Aran, my hero," she laughed, but her face fell when she realized how distracted Samus still looked. "Hey, what's bothering you? I can tell something's wrong. You came onto the ship without your powersuit, and you've been bleeding. Samus, what happened?"

The bounty hunter looked at the other woman as she sat up on the exam table, her head almost fully to Samus's height. Samus's face looked like she wanted to say so many things she just could not find the words to express, but she abandoned that effort as she leaned forward and rested her head on the other woman's chest.

"I thought I lost you," Samus whispered, closing her eyes as both of Elisa's hands began gently stroking her hair. "This is all because of me. You and Hector and Abby and the others… if you hadn't associated with me—"

"Shhh," Elisa hushed her lover, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head. "You just rescued me. This is a time to be happy and feel triumphant."

"Barely," Samus muttered as her body started to relax. "Those troopers had some kind of weird beam weapon. It green and blue like the bombus I told you about back on the bottle ship. It screwed up my suit just to be near it, and when they shot me, it deactivated the whole thing. I've been trying to materialize it, but it's not working."

Elisa's hands faltered for a moment, but she quickly continued stroking her lover's hair, trying to ease her tension. "Maybe it's just temporary. Maybe if you wait a while, whatever they shot you with will leave your system eventually. In the meantime though, you should get some rest."

"They pinned me down," Samus continued, barely paying attention to what Elisa said. "Froze my legs and cuffed my arms. Then they stuck me in the neck with a needle and began drawing blood. I completely lost it. I ran out of there so fast I didn't even think to grab the vials."

Elisa's eyes shifted to the dried blood on Samus's hands and wrists, and she realized she must have cut herself so she could use the acidic blood to break her bonds. "Well you're safe now."

Samus looked up at Elisa, her eyes tired looking but less wild than they had been when she came into the room. "You're the one who was abducted and tortured. You shouldn't need to be comforting me right now."

Without another word, the bounty hunter lifted her lover up into her strong arms and began to walk as she carried her bridal-style. Elisa relaxed into her chest as she let Samus carry her over to the hatch and off of the ship into the cold night. Samus stiffened momentarily as the frosty air hit her, but she ignored its effects as she carried Elisa to the front door where Morrigan stood waiting for them.

For the first time since receiving the news about SR-388, Elisa felt completely safe. Knowing Samus was here to protect her, powersuit or not, was all she needed. As they entered the house, Samus just nodded to Morrigan as she sidestepped her and headed for the staircase. They passed a few of the others but ignored them. Samus only had one person on her mind right now. The rest would be fine without her.

Once they reached the top of the stairs, Samus carried Elisa through the long, familiar corridor, turning into the small room she had occupied every time she had visited Morrigan since her first night on Earth all those years ago. She gently kicked the door closed behind her as she carried Elisa into the room's private bathroom and laid her lover in the bathtub.

"Samus," Elisa began, but the hunter quieted her as she began removing the stained and ragged prison clothing from her body.

"Relax," Samus replied sensually in her deep voice. "Let me take care of you."

"Mmm," Elisa hummed quietly, closing her eyes as Samus tore the shirt off of her chest and carefully removed her pants. Her lover's touch was tender and deliberate as she removed Elisa's undergarments and began filling the tub with water.

"Too hot?" Samus asked as the water began to pool at Elisa's toes, but she shook her head.

"Warmer," she replied, lying back against the wall of the tub as Samus adjusted the water.

"This better?" the hunter asked.

"Mmhmm." Elisa nodded, looking up at the hunter.

As the tub filled with water, Samus took a plastic cup and filled it before pouring it over her lover's head. Her matted, tangled hair relaxed as Samus wet it and slowly ran her fingers through it. There was dirt and dried blood, and Samus scowled as she realized Elisa probably had not been able to wash since she had been abducted from their home.

Once her hair was good and wet and the tub was full, Samus turned off the water and squirted some shampoo into her hands. She rubbed it into Elisa's hair and gently massaged her scalp as she lathered it up. Elisa purred softly as her lover's deft fingers washed her hair and relaxed her. After torture and confinement she thought would never end, having Samus here was a dream come true in and of itself. Having her care for her so tenderly was more than she had even imagined.

After her hair was clean, Samus turned the water back on just enough to fill the cup a few times and rinse Elisa's hair with the fresh, clean water. As she did so, she worked out a few of the knots with her fingers. She would not be able to undo all of the damage right now, but she could try to neaten up her hair as much as she could. Then, Samus took a washcloth and poured some soap onto it. The calming scent of lavender filled the air as she slowly began washing Elisa's face.

She was gentle but thorough as she cleaned her lover's face, neck and body. Elisa hummed with pleasure, savoring Samus's touch. The hunter knew just what to do, and having her wash the sweat and dirt from her body was the greatest relief Elisa had ever felt. She had not been aware of just how grimy she had felt until now. She was almost disappointed when the bath was over, but even as the water drained from the tub, Samus rinsed her body with warm, fresh water.

When she finished, Samus scooped her out of the tub and wrapped her in a fluffy white towel. Elisa stood as Samus wrapped another towel around her hair and knelt, slowly working her way down, drying each part of her.

"Thank you," Elisa said as Samus stood up. "That was wonderful."

The hunter eyed her devilishly. "It's not over," she replied, her voice soft but husky as she lifted Elisa into her arms once more and began carrying her toward the bed.

As Samus placed her down and began turning down the sheets, Elisa grabbed furiously at her partner's top, trying to pull it off. As she did do, Samus wriggled out of it and unlaced her boots before kicking them off. Before she could get to her pants, Elisa was on her. Their lips met as Elisa's fingers deftly unhooked her lover's bra and pulled it off before removing her pants and undergarments in a joint effort.

Liberated from her clothing at last, Samus climbed over her partner, careful not to accidently land on any part of Elisa's sore body. Placing a hand under her head, Samus lifted it until Elisa's mouth met hers and both women shared in a deep, passionate kiss. As Elisa's hands found Samus's breasts, the hunter's breath hitched and she stiffened for a moment before allowing her body to relax into the touch. The other woman continued to touch her softly even as Samus pulled away from their kiss and looked down at her lover.

"I'll never leave you again," she murmured, cupping Elisa's face in one hand. "I swear it. I promise… I'll never leave you again."

Elisa opened her eyes and moved her hands to the small of Samus's muscular back as she pulled her closer. Their lips were so close that she could feel her hot breath on her face.

"I know," she replied as her mouth hungrily found Samus's once more. Her hands ran back to her lover's chest as she savored the way the hunter's body quivered at the sudden pleasure.

Samus kept one hand under Elisa's head as her other one traveled south, and Elisa gasped as it found its destination. She tensed and moaned as Samus sat back and pulled her onto her lap. One hand was supporting Elisa's back as the other softly continued making her squirm.

Elisa gasped suddenly as she felt Samus's claws on her back, piercing the skin ever so slightly as she stared into the hunter's feral eyes. Samus's mouth quickly claimed her lover's as they kissed deeply once more.

This time was different, however. Elisa's eyes widened as she felt the sudden energy flowing into her. She held Samus's body tightly as the kiss continued, filling her with something unlike she had ever felt before. It was as though Samus were breathing life back into her. Slowly, her bruises began to disappear, and everything that hurt began to feel better. She clung to her lover as the energy flowed between them, sensual and healing.

As Samus pulled away from her partner, she looked tired, but she was smiling. Elisa smiled as well, high on the renewed vigor that Samus had somehow poured into her. She did not get a chance to ask what had happened, however, because no sooner did she open her mouth then Samus laid her down and climbed over her once more.

This time, the hunter lowered herself until their bodies were connected and began making lover to her furiously. And Elisa reciprocated with all of the ferocity of her lover. And all through the night, they continued passionately, each quenching her voracious thirst for the taste of her lover until the sun rose and found them asleep, Elisa curled up and held protectively in Samus's arms.


	25. Chapter 25: The Last Metroid

"What do you mean she got away?" Calvin Renpo snapped as he looked at the Marine clad in the gray armor before him.

The young Marine frowned as he held his helmet with its red visor in one hand, the other forearm occupied by a long cannon built into the armor. "Just what I said, Dr. Renpo. We had Samus Aran in custody, deactivated the suit like you said, but she still managed to get away. Corporal Zeke's legs are all burned up from that acid she bleeds, but there were no other major injuries."

Renpo's look hid none of his disgust as he stared down at the young man and the other two similarly clad Marines standing behind him. "You're supposed to be the best the Federation has to offer. And you're here now telling me I have to go face Harper empty handed? When you literally had Aran powerless and in your grasp?"

The young man shifted uncomfortably. "Not completely, no."

From behind him, one of the other Marines stepped forward and extended a medical biohazard transport box toward the doctor. "Her blood samples," the yellow-visored Marine said as Renpo reached out and accepted the case.

The doctor raised an eyebrow but took the case without protest. "You rendered her powerless, captured her, drew her blood, and still managed to lose her." He shook his head.

Samus Aran was proving to be an even bigger thorn in his side that he had anticipated, but he supposed he shouldn't be surprised by that. Supposedly she was notoriously difficult to kill, but the only time he has ever seen her in person, she had been laid out on his operating table like a slab of meat, and even when she had woken up, she hadn't had the strength to so much as sit up unassisted. It was hard to believe that train wreck in the broken armor had outmaneuvered the soldiers of the elite Federation Force.

Renpo turned away from the soldiers without another word. Someone else could see them out. As Chief Science Officer of the G.F.S. Arcadia, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Secretary of Defense Harper had recently been transported here to his vessel, and while she would be expecting a living, breathing bounty hunter in his custody, he supposed the four little glass vials of blood would have to suffice. At least she could not accuse him of not sending the best of the best out to apprehend Aran.

The long metal corridors of the Arcadia were barren, but they were lined with windows through which one could see the starry depths of space that surrounded them. Calvin Renpo paid no mind to the beauty of the atmosphere, however, as he hurried off toward Harper's chambers, the little box in tow. When he reached the suite where she was staying, he simply flashed his badge to the heavily armed guards stationed outside her door, and they gave him passage.

He stepped into the sparsely decorated living area of the General's suite and was surprised to see that Secretary Harper was standing in the center of the room waiting for him.

"Calvin," she said by way of greeting as the scientist noted she now sported a fully operational robotic arm in place of the one that had been destroyed.

"Madam Secretary," Renpo replied with a polite nod. "It's good to see you back on your feet so soon."

Her eyes narrowed and seemed to scour every inch of the man before her, but rather than make any cutting remarks, she gestured over to the simple wooden dining table. "Have a seat."

Renpo did as he was told, not wanting to do anything that would put him even further out of Harper's good graces before he broke the news to her that Samus Aran was once more on the loose. As he sat, Harper took a seat across from him and crossed her arms on the table, their juxtaposition revealing an almost jarring difference in their size. The new arm was far larger, and though most of it was covered by the sleeve of her blue and white Federation General's coat, Renpo could tell it was tactically outfitted for battle.

"So," Harper began before Renpo could say anything, "how many of them did she manage to kill off?"

"I… beg your pardon?" the scientist asked, suddenly confused.

"Aran. How many of the Federation Force troopers that you sent after her did she kill off?"

Renpo was taken aback by her casual and dismissive attitude. "Why, none… They've all returned alive, although one appears to have sustained a few minor injuries to his legs."

"Huh." Harper seemed genuinely surprised. "Aran must be slipping."

"You were… expecting her to kill them off?"

Harper leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "You're carrying a biohazard box, which I can only assume means they were able to get the blood samples I requested. I figured that would have pissed Aran off bad enough to take out at least one of them before she ran off. In her prime, she would have taken out the lot of them before they were ever even able to get the samples. She's slipping. That's all. But I should have realized that when she chose to go after her woman before coming to take down Project Zero."

Renpo thought his mouth might fall open from shock. "You never expected the Force would be able to bring Aran in. Not even with the use of the Zero Beam."

"I was curious. If they had actually gotten her, we'd just be a little bit farther along in our plans now. But no, I never counted on that. I've learned better than to underestimate Samus Aran, armor or no armor."

"I don't know what to say about that…"

Harper glanced casually over to the metal box. "How many vials?"

"All four."

"Good. Take three to the lab and instruct your people to get to work immediately. Now that the B.S.L. project is gone, Aran's blood is our only source of Metroid DNA, and I want to get to work on breeding those as soon as possible."

Renpo shifted uncomfortably. "And the fourth bottle? Do you still want to proceed as planned with that one?"

"Absolutely," Harper replied with a vicious darkness coming over her eyes. "Aran will die by my hand, and mine alone."

* * *

Elisa was aware of her lover's soft breathing and warm arms before she even opened her eyes, and she fought the urge to wake up as she snuggled closer into Samus's bare chest. Their bodies were still closely entwined and swaddled in the cocoon of blankets as they lay together in bed, the first bed Elisa had slept in since being arrested. There were so many things running through her awakening mind, everything from their intense love making the night before to the feel of Samus's skin against hers once more. The one thing that struck her as strange, however, was that she could not recall having a single nightmare as she had every night she had been in custody.

Furthermore, she was amazed at how good she felt not only mentally but also physically. Though she had been sore and bruised from the rough treatment by her captors, she found that there was not so much as a scratch on her anymore, save for the few that Samus had left when things were hot and heavy. Elisa finally gave in and opened her eyes to gaze upon her partner. It was no secret that she loved the woman beside her, but as she remembered being rescued by the hunter and carried up the stairs in her strong arms, she would swear she could feel her heart melting.

She gently swept a loose blonde lock out of the other woman's face and gazed upon her sleeping form. Samus looked exhausted, the bluish-black scars as well as the wrinkles around her eyes more pronounced than ever. Elisa had noticed several injuries on her lover's body the night before, and it had worried her though it hadn't slowed their passion any.

There was a wide burn across the hunter's back that had clearly not been treated, and there were two deep puncture wounds on her abdomen and left shoulder that continued to the other side. Though they were half-healed at this point, it still bothered Elisa. She could only imagine what Samus had been through. Though she had treated many of the mercenary's injuries over the years, it never got any easier to see her lover hurt like that.

"Samus," she whispered gently as she stroked her lover's hair. "Samus, wake up. It's morning, dear."

The mercenary made a small noise but gave no other signs of waking, and Elisa decided to let her sleep. If she was that deeply asleep, she must have really needed the rest. Normally the hyper-vigilant hunter would snap awake at the slightest sound. Again, Elisa was struck by just how drained her lover appeared and wondered why she had not noticed it the night before.

Reluctantly disentangling herself from Samus arms, she stood slowly, but she quickly found the caution was unnecessary. Her movements were easy and fluid without any hint of the pain or stiffness she had been experiencing lately. It was as though when they had been making love and she felt Samus breathing life back into her, that was precisely what the hunter had been doing.

A curious thought hit her as she looked at Samus once more and wondered if that was why she seemed as exhausted as she did. There had certainly been some changes in Samus's appearance since she had last seen her in their home before the mission to SR-388. The fangs and claws were a new edition, and she noticed the powersuit was gone from around her neck, replaced with a softly glowing red mass in her chest. She wondered suddenly if that had anything to do with a new power, something that would allow Samus to cut her own life energy to heal another. It seemed farfetched, but Elisa could not think of any other explanation for what had happened the night before.

Without Elisa in her arms, Samus's body folded closer in on itself and her face contorted in an anxious manner. Elisa knew that usually meant that either a night terror was coming on or that she was cold, so she deftly pulled up all of the covers and tucked her lover in tight before planting a light kiss on her forehead. Somehow, this seemed to help, and Samus's expression relaxed once more as she settled back into a peaceful sleep.

Elisa pulled some clothes out of one of the dressers and put them on as quietly as she could before tiptoeing out the door and into the hall. She must have looked funny dressed in a pair of her own jeans with one of Samus's long flannel shirts. It fit like a dress over Elisa's much smaller form, but she had just grabbed the first things she saw without really bothering to dig through the intermingled spare clothes she and Samus had left in that room during their other stays at Morrigan's house.

Not really sure what time it was, Elisa made her way down to the cozy little kitchen hoping to find something to eat. She was surprised when she walked in to find Maggie, Morrigan's other granddaughter, standing in there with her young son. Upon seeing Elisa, the other woman grinned.

"Morning, Copper," she said in her heavy Martian accent. Maggie was technically Samus's biological cousin, but the two women could not have looked more different. The Martian was only a couple of inches taller than Elisa, and she had wild reddish-brown hair. She was in a ripped up band t-shirt, and her arms were covered in tattoos. She wore too much eyeliner and chipped black nail polish. "What're you up to today?"

Maggie picked up the little boy beside her and placed him on her hip. Bucephalus "Buck" Sinclaire was a semi-human, but unlike most, he was a full three-quarters human and only one quarter Centurian. Though he appeared mostly human, his semi-human status was apparent from the fact that his skin was a light blue color and his hair was a seaform green. He was about four and a half years old, having been born during Samus's first visit to Earth.

"Hi, Elisa!" the little boy said with a shy wave before bringing his hand up to his mouth.

Elisa smiled as she stepped forward and greeted the child. "Hello, Buck! You've gotten so big since the last time I saw you!"

"Where's Sammy?" the little boy asked.

Elisa laughed. "Cousin Sammy is sleeping. She's been working really hard lately so we should be really quiet and not wake her."

Buck smiled. "In school we are quiet in the library. Should I use my library voice?"

"That's perfect, Buck. Yes, we're all going to use our library voices so Sammy can sleep."

"Oy," Maggie said, rolling her eyes. "Must've'ad a heck of a night if that one is still sleeping. An' what's all this about you two being on the lamb? Feds forget what Sam did for 'em during the war?"

Elisa shook her head. "It's a bit much to get into before I've had my coffee."

"Have your coffee then. It's a quarter to three. All the rest of your group is in the parlor if you're lookin' for 'em."

"Thanks, Maggie." Elisa smiled politely as the other woman carried her son out of the room, and she was thankful once she was alone. It was not that she didn't like Maggie, but the woman sometimes grated on her nerves and she preferred her in small doses.

She was also grateful that no one else came in to bother her while she was making breakfast. There were a few different choices in Morrigan's refrigerator and pantry, but ultimately Elisa decided to take some pre-made croissant dough and bake about a dozen buttery croissants for her and Samus to split. She knew flaky pastries were not the best thing to eat in bed, but she also knew Samus had a fondness for them. The hunter has a tendency to go about her business and forget to eat, but Elisa knew she needed to regain her strength if she was thinking of going back into battle anytime soon, and the best way to get her to eat was to tempt her with something delicious while she was waking up.

She was just pulling the croissants out of the oven when she turned to see Hector walking into the kitchen.

"Where's Mom?" he asked, looking annoyed.

"Good morning to you too, Hector," Elisa snapped back, not sure why the young man's attitude was irritating her as much as it was.

"Sorry," he said, shaking his head as he walked over and sat down at the kitchen table. "Good morning, Elisa. Hope you and Mom slept well. Is she up yet?"

Elisa shook her head as she put half of the croissants on a plate and sat down across from Hector. "She's still out cold. I tried waking her up, but she's down for the count. I'm going to try again in a little bit, see if I can get her to eat something."

Hector nodded, but he looked distracted. "I found the burner phone you gave me in that backpack. I guess I should have looked in it before now since it's got some helpful stuff."

Elisa had to think back and remember what he was referring to. The day of her arrest was a blur her mind did not want to go back to, and she could feel her hands shaking even as she just vaguely recalled giving him the emergency bag.

"Anyway," Hector continued, "Abby and I got up pretty early this morning. We've been thinking and we want to try to use the phone and get in contact with Admiral Dane. Maybe if there are enough people in the Federation who are on our side we can stage some kind of a coup and take back control from whoever did this you Mom and you."

Elisa grunted. Her head was spinning and it was too soon after waking up for her to be dealing with one of Hector's crazy schemes. "Go make me a cup of coffee if you're going to insist on having this conversation now."

To her surprise, the young man actually got up and made her a cup of coffee, adding milk and sugar just the way she liked it and bringing it to her without protest.

"This good?"

Elisa took a sip and nodded. "Perfect. Thank you."

"I know I'm over-simplifying things thinking that we can just call up Admiral Dane and take the Federation back. It's not like we're fighting a bunch of bad guys who look like walking lobsters. It's hard to tell who's going to be on which side and where the lines are. A lot of people think Mom is guilty just because they trust the Federation. And I don't know what our target would be or how to go about doing it, but Calline was telling me about this thing called the Zero Host and how it's a big nasty bioweapon, and maybe if Mom destroys it and we can expose the Federation's bioweapon experiments and other unethical—"

"Hector," Elisa said, holding up her hand. "Stop. I can't do this right now. I jut woke up. Your mom's exhausted. She doesn't need you going off with reckless ideas about barging in and blowing up anymore bioweapon experiments. If we're going to do anything from here, we need to sit down and plan something out. We can't hide forever, and I know Samus is going to insist on going back into battle. And if she hears you talking like that, it's going to throw her right back into hunter mode, and she doesn't need that right now. She needs to heal from the last few battles."

Hector looked annoyed, but he backed down. "Abby and I are still going to get in touch with Admiral Dane though. He might have some ideas about what we can do."

"Fine, whatever." Elisa rested her head on her hand and tiredly sipped her coffee. "I always said the fucking Federation was going to put her into an early grave, but I wasn't expecting it to go quite like this."

Hector's face softened, and Elisa thought she could see a bit of fear in his eyes. "How is Mom doing? I didn't get to talk to her much after she saved us."

Elisa shrugged. "I don't know, Hector. She's different. I mean, she's acting the same, but she looks different. I don't know what's happened since the B.S.L. or what those Federation goons did to her, but she's different."

"Her suit looked different."

Elisa nodded. "Yeah. I don't know what's up with that either."

"I don't know what's going on or where to go from here, and it scares me."

"I know," Elisa replied. "It scares me too, Hector."


	26. Chapter 26: The Ultimate Weapon

Samus sniffed the air subconsciously. Even in her sleep she was aware that there was something delicious nearby, and she felt like it had been ages since she had eaten. Slowly, life began to return to her as she focused on the tasty smell and began to open her eyes. Definitely not a morning person, the mercenary had never been one to jump out of bed bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Most mornings it took her a little while to become aware of where she was or what she was doing there. The hardware installed in her brain, repeated trauma, and years of concussions had sneaky ways of making themselves known, but her morning confusion was their most common reminder.

Though she was not sure where she was when the world came into view, it helped that her bedroom at Morrigan's house was familiar to her, and she could hear Elisa speaking to her softly from the edge of the bed. Gradually, she became more aware, although it took several minutes of staring absently at Elisa.

"Elisa?" Samus said to her wife after a while, noticing the plate of hot, fresh croissants she was holding.

"Good morning, Love." Elisa smiled and extended the plate toward Samus. "I made you breakfast."

Still running partially on autopilot, Samus sniffed the food and bit into one of the croissants. It was light and buttery, and it felt like the most delicious thing Samus had ever eaten. It was not long before the plate was empty and Elisa set it on the nightstand as she scooted closer to where Samus lay. Gently, she moved the bounty hunter's head onto her lap and began to stroke her long blond hair.

"Any better?" she asked as Samus closed her eyes and relaxed.

The mercenary grunted as she snuggled deeper into her partner's lap.

"I'll take that as a yes," Elisa said with a grin.

"I can't believe I got you back," Samus muttered half-coherently.

"Of course you did. You rescued me, silly. My intergalactic knight in golden armor." Elisa laughed but Samus barely reacted.

"I've never gotten anyone back before. They always die."

Elisa's face fell slightly as she cherished the feeling of Samus in her arms. "Let's not think about that right now. We're here together, and that's all that matters. And we're safe right now."

Samus made another sound as she nestled her head deeper into her partner. "You're warm. I wish we could just stay like this forever."

"We can stay like this for a little while at least."

Samus looked up at her partner. It was clear that she was still sleepy. "I have to go back to work. I still need to find the Zero Host…"

As she began to get up, Elisa gently pushed her back down and Samus didn't bother putting up a fight as she flopped back onto the soft bed.

"What you need," Elisa began sternly as she resumed petting the mercenary's hair, "is to rest and get your energy back. I know you did something last night and it's left you damn near drained this morning."

"I'm not drained," Samus huffed as she rolled over onto her back and stare up at Elisa. "I just haven't had my coffee yet."

"So you didn't do something to cut your own life energy and breathe it into my mouth last night while we were making love?"

Samus averted her eyes.

Elisa sighed. "If I get you some coffee, will you be coherent enough to tell me what's going on and what that was?"

The mercenary closed her eyes and nodded.

"Good," Elisa said as she went to stand up, but as she was getting out of bed, she felt Samus's hand grab her around the wrist.

"Wait," the hunter said, sitting up. "Don't leave."

Elisa gently freed her hand from Samus's grip and kissed her lover's forehead. "Let me do this for you, Samus. Let me bring you coffee in bed and spoil you. We both know how you spoiled me last night."

Elisa had a note of seduction in her voice as she spoke the last few words, and a roguish smile flashed across Samus's lips as she watched her lover go out the door. She felt silly having a sudden bout of separation anxiety as her wife was only going down to the kitchen, but she could not help it. There was a deep-seeded fear of loss she had never been able to overcome, and recent events had only served to reignite those anxieties tenfold. Samus put on a robe and fluffed her pillows as she sat up and patiently waited, watching the door. She was not able to relax, however, until she saw Elisa's form reappear carrying two steaming hot cups of coffee.

"Black coffee," the other woman said as she handed one mug to Samus. "Just how you like it." Her own brew was blonde and sweet.

Samus took the mug and drank the steaming liquid gratefully. The warmth rushed through her body and seemed to renew a bit of strength, and she wondered if this affinity for heat had anything to do with the Metroid's aversion to cold. It did not take long for her to finish the drink and place the empty mug on the nightstand.

"Okay," Elisa said as soon as Samus was finished, placing her own half-full cup beside Samus's empty one, "you should be good and awake now. Please, tell me what happened last night. Tell me everything."

Samus sighed and sat back against the headboard and row of pillows as Elisa snuggled close to her and rested her head on Samus's heart. Holding her partner in a protective embrace, Samus sighed and began the tale of the series of events that had led up to Elisa's rescue.

She spared no details, starting with the mission on SR-388 and the X infection. She told her about the B.S.L., the SA-X, the Metroid lab, and her reunion with Adam that had ultimately led to so much destruction. She led Elisa through her journeys as a fugitive, going ship to ship and planet to planet until she came aboard the _Dreamboat Annie_ and conspired with its crew to infiltrate the prison. Elisa listened quietly, her ear pressed up against Samus's heart as she noticed when it would speed up and start racing only to settle down once more as the hunter divulged the previously secret aspects of her journey, down to every last detail about Calline and the Zero Host.

When at last Samus was finished, the two women sat in silence for a while, Elisa's body heat warming Samus's core.

"You still didn't answer one thing," Elisa said after a while, still resting on the mercenary's chest. "Did you cut your own life force to heal me?"

Samus was quiet for a moment but eventually nodded. "Yes. I did."

Elisa closed her eyes and sighed. "Why?"

"You were hurting. It was because they had come after you to get to me. I just didn't want you to hurt anymore. I hate seeing you suffer."

"How did you know it would work?"

"I didn't." Samus paused. "But I figured I'm part Metroid, and if I could take life, well… I thought of the baby back during my last battle on Zebes and figured I'd give it a try."

"You shouldn't have, Love. You need your strength more than I do."

Samus scoffed. "I have enough for both of us."

Elisa didn't say anything, thinking back to the wounds she had seen the night before. They looked better today but still not good enough that she wanted Samus running back into battle so soon. Not that she ever wanted Samus to leave and go back into battle again.

"So where do we go from here?" Elisa asked after a little while.

"I infiltrate the Federation Force, bring down Project Zero, and kill the Host."

"You don't want to try to clear your name?"

Samus shook her head. "It's a waste of time. Any chance I had of clearing my name flew out the window when I ran after blowing up SR-388. And now I've broken into a prison and busted out one of its maximum-security prisoners. I'm pretty sure any goodwill I still had left within the Federation has been blown to bits."

"What about the citizens of the Federation? Are you just turning your back on them?"

Samus frowned. "No… I just don't know how to help them. I'm used to facing enemies I can shoot. Metroids and Space Pirates and nasty parasite things. The problems in the Federation… they're all inside. There are people in power who have different ideals than I do, who think bioweapon research really is important and who can't understand why I did what I did to SR-388. And they honestly believe that they are right and want what they think is best for the galaxy. Even some of the people in Harper's lot… they really believe that they are the good guys as much as you and I do. I can't just shoot them or blow something up and declare the mission accomplished."

"Well, of course I'm not suggesting that," Elisa said, wrinkling her nose. "You can't go around waging war with people just because they disagree with you. But Samus, a lot of people only follow Harper and the Uranian party's views on bioweapons because they don't understand it like you do. You've dealt with bioweapons, sentient ones even during the Space Pirate War and on Zebes—"

"And because I am one," Samus finished.

Elisa held her partner tighter. "Yes."

"People think of building better soldiers and transcending their own mortality without considering the consequences. Calline… look what they did to her. She's a child! She didn't get any say in that, in what she became because some scientists thought they were gods and decided to take her choices away from her and make her into a weapon to wage their wars that she had no part in starting!"

Elisa listened quietly but didn't want to state the obvious parallels that were running through her mind. Instead she chose to approach the topic from a different direction. "If the problem is that people don't understand, then how about we show them? Educate the galaxy on what bioweapons research really looks like? And what Harper and Chairman McKinnon's party is really doing in the name of the 'greater good?'"

"Elisa, I shoot things for a living. I don't even know how I would go about doing something like that."

"I didn't say 'you'," Elisa said, smiling as she sat up and took Samus's hands. "I said 'we.' We're in this together, remember? Both of us on the lamb? Thelma and Louise? And you promised never to leave me again, so I'll be by your side every step of the way. And there are others who can help. Leave that in their hands. Even as we speak, Hector and Abby are talking to Admiral Dane and mobilizing forces within the Federation. We have allies, Samus. More than you realize. You do what you do best, and let the rest of us handle this Federation PR nightmare. Hell, from what you told me, Chance and Calline by themselves could cause a large-scale revelation of the Federation's corruption if we could just get their voices heard somehow."

"So what are you saying? We find some journalist dying to make headlines and just hand Callie and Chancey over to them?"

"Or," Elisa said with an impish grin, "we make our own video and make it go viral. Maybe if we had a super smart AI who could hack through media channels and broadcast it everywhere, throughout the galaxy?"

"That idea is farfetched, crazy, and completely reckless."

"Then it sounds perfect for you," Elisa said with a seductive purr as she stroked the mercenary's scarred-up cheek.

There was a low rumble in Samus's throat as her eyes met her lover's. "I thought you wanted me to stay put and get some rest."

Elisa leaned forward until she and Samus were face to face and could feel each other's warm breath. "I do." She cupped Samus's face in her palm and brought them so close their lips were nearly touching. "I don't want you even getting out of bed today. So stop fighting me and relax and let me spoil you this time, you silly bounty hunter."

Her lips met Samus's hungrily as both women savored the type of deeply passionate kiss that only wet their appetites for what was to come.

* * *

"Did you speak to Samus?"

As Hector walked into the living room, he looked up to see Abby staring at him expectantly.

"No," he replied. "Elisa said not to bother her. She's resting"

There was a large fire crackling in the hearth, flooding the room with warmth and the smell of burning wood. Morrigan's living room looked like something out of a wealthy early twentieth century home with its rich red velvet and dark wood furniture. A large couch and two old-fashioned wing chairs faced the fire, and their occupants looked over to Hector as he and Abby walked over to join them.

Hector took a seat in one of the large wing chairs, and Abby sat beside Chance on the couch. The lithe semi-human and petite Calline squished together in the middle as Maggie sat on the other end of the couch. Morrigan sat watching in the other wing chair as Buck played on the floor.

"So where do we go from here?" Maggie asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"Marjorine," Morrigan said nervously. "I think this is a job best left to Samus and her crew. You have Buck to worry about."

"Of course I do, Grandmama." Maggie let out an overly dramatic sigh. "But I'm not lettin' 'im grow up thinking his mum's a damn coward. Even if I don't strap on some guns and blow up a planet, I'm still a part-a this thing."

"I don't think we all need to strap on guns and fight," Abby said, looking around the room as a pregnant tension hung in the air. "There's more to fighting a war than the groundwork, and honestly, none of us can hold a candle to Samus in that department, so we shouldn't even pretend like we can."

"Have you spoken to Admiral Dane yet?" Hector asked.

"I'm getting to that, Hector," she replied firmly. "I did speak to Admiral Dane. We already know he's on our side. I mentioned that thing to him that Calline was talking about, the Zero Host or whatever. He doesn't know much about it except that it's some extremely powerful bioweaponized organism. Calline says its DNA was used to enhance the soldiers of the Federation Force's Project Zero."

"And what does that have to do with us?" Maggie asked as she bent down to pick up one of Buck's toy cars and began fidgeting with it.

"I think it's all related," Abby replied. "General Harper is a member of the Uranian Party and has had a long-standing grudge against my father since he spearheaded the military's support of the anti-bioweapons legislation all those decades ago. The ban on bioweapons research was recently lifted when Chairman McKinnon came into office. Before that, however, my father suspected that there were rogue cells sponsored by military groups within the Federation that were doing bioweapon research illegally out in deep space. He died following up on one of these leads.

"Samus is wanted for blowing up the Biologic Space Labs and planet SR-388. It doesn't take a historian to remember that was the planet she went to when she was exterminating the Metroids during the war because the Space Pirates were using them as bioweapons. Put two and two together. Biologic was making bioweapons and they were trying to use Metroids either as a template or trying to recreate an environment for them to thrive in. Samus wouldn't let something like that stand.

"And now Calline… she was taken in by the Federation Force two years ago, before the bioweapons ban was lifted. Right around the same time my father was killed. She's been augmented with DNA from the Zero Host. The Zero Host must be what my father was after when he was killed, and no one wanted the bioweapons ban lifted or him killed more than Secretary of Defense Harper, who at the time was still General Harper, in a position of power equal to my father's. And who came to arrest Elisa when Archer attacked? General Harper and that Colonel Maroney.

"It's all connected. The B.S.L., the Zero Host, the Metroids, and Samus having to become a fugitive. It wouldn't surprise me if the whole thing was set up just to make Samus look like a traitor to the Federation because Harper knew she was my father's right hand man."

"But why go after Samus?" Morrigan asked. "General Malkovich is gone now. Samus was well-liked and respected but she had no actual political power."

Abby was stone-faced as she stared back at Morrigan. "Bioweapons are made by combining the genetics of powerful organisms that are already in existence, sometimes with each other and sometimes with machines. Samus is an extremely powerful warrior. If I were building a bioweapon, I would want to harness her power and add it to the concoction. Admiral Dane didn't know much about the Zero Host but he knows it's an amalgam of different creatures' traits and no one knows the full extent of its power. I believe Harper and the Federation are after Samus because they want to use her DNA and unique tehnology to make it even more powerful."

"So they're making her into public enemy number one," Chance said, his already pale face even whiter with the revelation, "so that when they apprehend her, everyone will assume she's just in prison and no one will ask questions."

"Those bastards!" Calline shouted, slamming her fists into her legs.

"Language!" Maggie shouted and pointed to Buck. "Don't you see there's a fuckin' kid in the room?"

Calline just looked at her incredulously.

"I suppose it's plausible," Morrigan said slowly, "but we don't know what Samus knows. She might tell us something completely different."

"It's only a hunch," Abby replied. She sat up straight and her voice had a commanding quality to it Hector had rarely heard, but on the occasions he had heard it, it was almost eerie how much she reminded him of the late General Malkovich. "But I think there's a connection. They want their weapon, their Zero Host to be stronger than anything else in the galaxy. They need to neutralize Samus because they know she has her own agenda and they still don't know how her DNA or her powersuit function. It only makes sense that they would want to harness that power and add it into their own weapon."

"You guys," Hector said, less polished than the General's daughter, "I really think Abby is on to something. I don't know why it wasn't obvious before…"

"Really?" Maggie gave Hector a skeptical look. "You're not just jumping on her bandwagon now because ya wanna jump on her bandwagon later? She didn't have that nice rock on her finger last time she was 'ere."

Everyone's attention suddenly turned to the engagement ring Hector had all but forgotten was still on Abby's hand.

"Hector and I were planning to announce our engagement," Abby replied with a calm that almost concealed the light blush coming to her cheeks, "but we wanted to wait until we could do so in front of his mom and Elisa as well. But yes, Hector is my fiancé, and I don't appreciate your implication that he was only agreeing with me because he's planning on… _jumping on my bandwagon_ later."

The young woman said the last few words with disgust, a sour look coming to her face.

"Ms. Malkovich's bandwagon aside," Calline said, "I think it makes total sense. I know the Federation Force. The way they talked about the Host made it sound like this thing is it. It's the ultimate weapon."

"Then why not just use the damn thing to take out Samus?" Maggie asked.

"Language!" Morrigan chastised her granddaughter.

"Isn't it obvious?" Calline asked. "You said Harper and McKinnon are part of the Uranian Party. General Malkovich and Chairman Keaton were members of the Galaxian Party. Samus… I don't know if she has any actual political affiliation, but people associate her with the late General Malkovich and the Keaton administration. If the pro-bioweapon Uranian Party's ultimate weapon killed a beloved war hero from the Galaxian Party, it would make them look really bad. Setting her up to commit treason and then having Fed officials bring her to justice makes the Uranians look great and the Galaxians look like shit."

"Lang-wage!" Buck called out as he looked up from his toy cars and at Calline.

"Sorry," the girl replied, her face blushing scarlet.

"So it's all political," Morrigan said.

"Ain't everything these days?" Maggie asked, looking bored. "So let's just figure out who Sammy's gotta shoot up and let 'er have at 'em!"

Abby sighed. "If it ever gets to be that simple, I'll let you know."

"I think it is that simple," Hector replied, turning to Abby. "Mom's gotta kill the Zero Host. Period. As for all the PR bullsh—eep, uh…and cows… and ponies… we can handle that. We've just got to expose the Uranians' conspiracy."

"Okay," Maggie said skeptically. "Do we know anyone qualified to deal with the media's bull-sheep-cows-and-ponies?"

"Leave it to me," Abby said with a knowing grin. "I was a Four-Star General's daughter. I know some strings I might be able to pull once we figure out exactly what we need the Federation's citizens to know."


	27. Chapter 27: Morning Frost

Samus raised an eyebrow at what she saw when she walked into the living room the next morning. Dressed in nothing but a white tee shirt and a pair of flannel pants, she looked like she had just rolled out of bed as she took a sip from the coffee mug she was holding.

"Don't even ask," Chance said as he stared her down, embarrassment written all over his face.

The lemur humanoid was dressed in a stylistically ripped up black teeshirt and a short red plaid school-girl skirt with a black belt and a recently added hole for his bushy tail. What Samus found the most amusing, however, was that he also had on black fishnet arm warmers and stockings and a pair of black leather Doc Martins.

"I can hook you up with some black nail polish," Samus said with a cheeky grin, "but I'm thinking the dark eyeliner should come first." The mercenary laughed. "Let me guess. You asked Maggie if you could borrow an outfit?"

"Yeah." Chance sounded defeated as he looked down and surveyed his ensemble. He was certainly ghostly pale enough to pull of the faux-goth grunge look, and his large golden eyes added an otherworldly effect. "Elisa was sleeping, and Maggie was the only other person close to me in size."

"I'd lend you something of mine," Samus said, taking another sip of coffee, "but I haven't owned a dress since the one I wore to Ian Malkovich's funeral almost fifteen years ago."

"And no one ever gives you a hard time about that?"

"About what?" Samus asked, genuinely confused.

"About not dressing like a girl, I mean. No one thinks it's weird?"

Samus shrugged. "I was raised by a species that only had one sex left, and even before all the females died out, there still wasn't much of an emphasis on any of that. Hell, I get mistaken for a man almost any time someone meets me while I'm in my armor. Never bothered me. I mean, I know I've got all the female bits… or I used to before the radical hysterectomy… but I don't know. It's never meant anything more to me than being left-handed. I've got bigger issues to worry about than people's opinions about what I'm wearing or whether I piss standing up or sitting down so I've always just done my own thing."

"Huh," Chance said as the two of them made their way over to the fireplace and sat down, Chance in the armchair and Samus sprawled out on the red velvety couch. "I guess that's one way to look at it. What about, you know… the other thing? No one bothers you about that?"

Samus yawned and looked annoyed. "Chancey, I'm only a third of the way through my first cup of coffee this morning. You're going to have to be more specific."

"Well… no one bothers you about you being… you know, a lesbian?"

Samus raised both eyebrows. "Lesbian?"

"Yeah, I mean… you and Elisa?"

"I'm not a lesbian, Chancey." She half-smiled before taking a long gulp of coffee. "I love Elisa. She's my life partner. We're monogamous. But this is the first time I've really done anything like that. I've been with other women, men, species that aren't divided into sexes, and even a very creative shape-shifter who was a fellow bounty hunter. I just do what I want. And hell, the eight years between my first and last missions to Zebes I was totally celibate, never with anyone. Couldn't bring myself out of war mode long enough to make that kind of connection."

"And no one bothers you about that? Ever?"

She gave him a side-eyed look and a devilish grin. "Would you give Samus Aran crap about something like that?"

"Heh. No, Ma'am."

The mercenary smiled as she took another gulp, draining her cup and sitting it on the end table. "Why? Someone bothering you, Chancey? Anyone you need me to beat up? I kinda like you, so I'll give you a discount from my regular rate."

Chance laughed nervously, his already giant eyes looking like they might bug out. "Uh… right. Mercenary and all… I forget sometimes."

"Seriously though, Chance, everything ok?"

"I guess." The semi-human shrugged his shoulders. "I think just seeing you and Elisa have your reunion and Hector and Abby's big news has got me feeling kinda lonely. That's all."

Samus furrowed her brow. "What big news?"

Chance bit his tongue as his eyes grew wide once more. He had completely forgotten that Samus and Elisa had not been present during their discussion the day before when Maggie had called out Abby for wearing a new engagement ring. "Um… nothing. Forget I said anything."

"Chance," Samus said, her tone stern as her voice grew deeper. "What big news?"

"N-nothing…"

"Damn it, Chancey, I am too young to be a grandmother so if you tell me he went and knocked that girl up I need to know so I can kick his—"

"No one's knocked up!" Chance threw up his hands in defeat as he saw the mercenary's body stiffening and looking like she was ready to pounce. "No one is making you a grandmother! Hector and Abby are just engaged! That's all!"

The look on Samus's face changed instantly from one of anger to one of surprise and something that looked like delight. "My son is engaged? To Adam's daughter?"

Slightly disturbed by how quickly the muscular Amazon's emotions could pull a one-eighty, Chance just nodded. "Yeah. They told us last night. Said they had been planning for you and Elisa to be around before they were going to say anything, but Maggie pointed out that Abby had forgotten to take the ring off."

Samus closed her eyes and held her hands together as she raised them to her face. Much to Chance's surprise, he thought she looked like she was actually tearing up.

"Adam," the mercenary said to someone who was obviously not present. "Your daughter, Abridgette is engaged to Hector. They're getting married! My kid and your little girl… I wish you could see them now. You'd be proud."

When Samus seemed like she was finished speaking to the mysterious, absent third party, Chance tilted his head curiously. "Adam?"

The mercenary opened her eyes and looked up, surprised as though she had forgotten he was also in the room. "Abby's father. My former Commanding Officer and my best friend. He passed away two years ago."

"I'm sorry," Chance replied quietly. "I had no idea… I'm sorry for your loss Stev— er… Samus."

"Thanks, Chancey." She smiled softly. "You know, he died sacrificing himself to save me… 'Your sacrifices and your service, Samus, have made all of the difference. You've saved so many people. Please, let me save you now.' That's what he said to me… and I promised to take care of his daughters. So as you can imagine, I'm so happy for Hector because he's my own flesh and blood, but I've loved Abby like a daughter for a long time, too. So all this… I'm just so happy and wish he could have been here too."

"Wow." Chance found himself at a loss for words. "I had no idea. You're not mad at me for ruining the surprise though, are you?"

Samus shook her head. "Speaking of those two, where is everyone else?"

"Still sleeping as far as I know. Maggie took Buck off to preschool and she's heading to work. You and I are the only ones up." Chance grinned. "Early birds getting the worm."

"Heh." Samus looked embarrassed. "I wouldn't call what I did getting up early considering I never got out of bed yesterday."

"You needed the rest though. By the way, how are your wounds looking at this point?"

"They're fine." The mercenary rolled her eyes. "Shit. Between you and Elisa doting over me, you'd think I was some fragile little waif. I mean, seriously…" She stretched out her muscular right arm and looked at a particularly nasty scar that wrapped all the way around it. "Damn Space Dragon nearly bit my arm off and a couple of days later I went into battle with four more of them at once. And I was fine. And I'm fine now."

It was a lie. She most definitely had not been fine following her battle with the four Space Dragons, but she didn't need Chance to know that. People worrying about her had gotten old a long time ago.

"Sorry, Samus. I'm not trying to imply you're incompetent or anything. I mean, you're hands down the strongest warrior I've ever met. I'm just… worried. You're strong, but it sounds like so is this Zero Host thing. And I guess if you do run across it at some point, I'd feel better knowing you were in peak form."

Samus shifted uncomfortably. With the exception of Elisa, no one knew that the Federation Force possessed a weapon that could disable her powersuit's functionality, and though she had not yet tried to materialize it since leaving her ship, she still was not sure she would be able to.

"We barely know anything about this Zero Host thing," Samus said, trying to get her mind off of her powersuit and the mysterious green and blue beam. "I mean, we know it's psychic because Calline was infused with its DNA. Sounds like it's also super strong and fast, but that's so generic."

What she secretly worried about was whether or not it possessed anything like the beam that had rendered her suit powerless.

"Yeah," Chance said with a nervous laugh. "Psychic. Man, I don't envy you if you want to go and fight something like that. Something that can move things without touching them."

Samus nodded, her mind flashing back to a battle she had fought on LV-426. "Last time I fought a telekinetic enemy, I didn't have the use of my suit, so I brought a bunch of guns. He threw me into a wall and took all of my guns, save for one that he made me point at my own head as he brought me to my knees at his feet."

Chance's eyes widened. "How did you survive that?"

"I fought his control over me and pivoted my wrist so that when he forced me to pull the trigger, the blast him hit instead. The only reason I won that battle was because he beat me up so bad I was bleeding internally, so when he lifted me up to deliver the final blow, I spat acid blood into his eyes and proceeded to just whale on him with my fists until I busted up his face beyond recognition."

"And that killed him?"

"No… I let him live. He was family and had been close with a couple of my dads so—" Samus paused as she saw the look of complete shock on Chance's face. "I have a fucked up family history. The one I beat up, Silver Wing, he was a Chozo. I'm part Chozo, amongst other things. I was raised as a Chozo until I was fourteen. My human parents had been killed in a Space Pirate raid."

"So… if you're part Chozo, are you psychic, too?"

Samus shook her head. "I'm a lot of things, but psychic has never been one of them. I'm kind of like a defective Chozo since I was only a prototype."

"But you can counter psychic attacks? Like you stopped Silver Wing from making you shoot yourself in the head?"

"Not really. I just managed to move my wrist a little. He still had complete control over the rest of my body." She shuddered to think about it. The idea of being helpless and completely at the mercy of any species, even the Chozo, terrified her. As it was, she still had the occasional flashbacks to being strapped down and experimented on as a child when they had been building her into their ultimate warrior.

"It's just," Chance began, unsure how to approach the topic as he fiddled with one of his fishnet arm warmers, "Abby said something last night. She said the Zero Host is an amalgam of different, really powerful species. It's the Federation's ultimate weapon. And she thinks that maybe the reason they set you up to blow up SR-388 and become a fugitive is so they could arrest you and no one would ask any questions when they decided to take you and use you as part of the Host or something. Maybe find a way to duplicate whatever it is that makes you the legendary Samus Aran."

Samus pursed her lips as she pondered the theory for a moment. "Whether that's the case or not, it doesn't change anything. I've already decided that whatever this thing is, it's an abomination and I have to kill it and destroy the Project Zero program."

 _They wouldn't need all of me,_ Samus thought to herself, thinking of the blood vials the Federation troopers had drawn from her. _My blood would be enough if they just want to use my genetic coding for the host._

"Chancey," she said, looking very seriously at the semi-human as she stood up, "I need you, Calline, Hector and Abby to do me a favor."

Chance stood up as well, is long fluffy tail wagging excitedly at the thought of helping Samus with something related to fighting the Federation. "Sure, Samus. Anything you need."

"I need the four of you to do something. Make a propaganda video or something, anything that can expose what the Federation has been doing. Between the bioweapon experiments on human children and the imperialism and destruction of planets occupied by species who are not yet recognized as Federation citizens. Get Thibodaux and Charbonnet and the etecoons and dachoras if you have to. Anything, any footage or proof of the evils being committed under the McKinnon administration. And we just have to find some way to make it reach everywhere in Federation territory."

"Say no more!" the lemur creature said with a grin. "Abby's already working on pulling some strings. She's been in contact with some big shot Fleet Admiral and has a whole bunch of connections because her dad was a General or something."

"Good." Samus smiled. "I'm not the creative type so I can't give any pointers on how to sway public opinion, but I know you said every single being on the _Dreamboat Annie_ has had some bad run-in with the Feds at some point, and I imagine they'd be glad to expose some of that. If we can turn public opinion against bioweapons research and Federation imperialism, we might be able to force the hand of the powers that be and stop some of it from happening. Maybe get the ban reinstated or something."

"Heh. That's pretty ambitious for one video, Samus."

"It's not about the video," the bounty hunter replied. "It's the idea and the knowledge. Most of the Federation's citizens don't know anything about this, but we can show them. Once it's out there, it can't be erased."

"I guess I see what you're saying." His eyes lit up as he had an idea. "And maybe Elisa could talk about how they tortured her in the military prison."

"NO!" Samus shouted, more forcefully than she meant to, causing the other semi-human to jump. "No," she said again, more calmly. "We can't do that. Elisa stays with me. For better or for worse, she stays by my side and is coming with me when I go after the Host."

"That sounds really dangerous…"

"It is. But I made a promise. I'm never leaving her behind again. I know and she knows that if she stays with me she might be killed. I'm not all right with that, but I have to accept it. Because she accepts it every time I go out on a mission. And this is what she wants." Samus frowned as she thought about the implications. "Excuse me, but I have to go to my ship now and take care of a few things."

"Sure." Chance smiled reassuringly, but the look was lost on Samus as she turned and walked out of the living room.

Samus didn't bother changing out of her pajamas or even putting on shoes, something she instantly regretted as her bare feet touched the frigid ground outside. With her weakness to cold, every step felt as though she were walking upon broken glass, and her body grew heavy and sluggish, but she ignored it. Light snow flurries were falling, and the sun had not yet risen high enough to melt the layer of frost that had formed of the grass the night before.

Samus walked quickly to her ship, holding her bare arms close to her chest for warmth. It was a relief when she finally made it close enough and was able to send a signal to it to open the hatch. She may not have been psychic, but the hardware installed in her brain was useful for interfacing with Chozo technology even without her powersuit. As it raised her up into her ship, she was instantly thankful she had kept the thermostat set to a warm temperature and immediately made a beeline for the medical bay where she kept her spare jumpsuits.

She opened the drawer where she kept her normal flight suits and was going through the series of navy blue and black garments when something caught her eye.

"Oh hell no," she muttered to herself as she recognized the light blue fabric of the one suit that had been decisively shoved back behind the rest of them.

Reluctantly, she pulled out the long light blue suit, her eyes darting around at the various pink Chozo symbols emblazoned upon it. She had not worn this particular jumpsuit since the end of the Phaaze incident, but she remembered it well. It was sleek and formfitting, much tighter than her other flight suits, but it had its own unique properties. The suit, something she had designed years ago using a blend of Federation and Chozo technology, was like a second skin and could even protect her from certain elements such as inclement changes in temperature.

Some crass soldiers had once referred to it as her "zero suit" since it did not leave much to the imagination, and indeed, it felt like she was wearing nothing at all. It was as natural against her skin as if it were part of her body, and its light energy shielding protected her from the types of cuts and damages the other flight suits left her open to. More importantly, however, she had designed it to be somewhat resistant to acid and other corrosive substances.

Samus frowned as she looked at the blue fabric in her hands. There was a bright pink starburst-looking pattern on the back, her signature "S"-symbol on the right hand, and the symbol for "Chozo" over her left breast. All of the symbols had a cultural significance to her long deceased adoptive family, in particular bearing the symbol for "Chozo" over her heart. She had designed it carefully and lovingly before her first mission to Zebes, and it had served her well after her ship had crashed and her first powersuit had been damaged beyond repair.

Unfortunately, the few times she had actually worn it without her armor, she had attracted the stares of a lot of male humanoids, many of whom would often make lewd comments about her copious "tits and ass" as they had so politely put it. Other times, a few of the bolder bounty hunters had decided to cop a feel not realizing that the pretty little blonde human in the blue and pink jumpsuit was actually the infamously lethal Samus Aran. She had retired it not long after one such incident during which she had busted up half of a man's face with one punch and he had needed extensive reconstructive surgery to put it back together. She had just grown tired of the harassment and being treated like a sex object, and she had decided it was best not to call any attention to herself while she was out of her armor.

"But it's practical right now," she said to herself as she held up the suit. "I bleed acid and as much as I hate to admit it, I get too damn weak in the cold."

She set the blue suit to the side for a moment as she stripped off her regular clothes until she was completely naked. It still bothered her to see all of the alien markings on her muscular form, but she ignored them as she lay down on her medical exam table and brought up the holoscreen and input the codes so the systems could run diagnostics on her body. She had not been able to fully assess her own condition since being injected with the Metroid serum, and she wanted to know exactly what was going on in there.

The process took longer than usual as the machines x-rayed, scanned, poked and prodded every inch of her. Her DNA had, unsurprisingly, been significantly altered. Her body temperature was apparently less stable, and she chalked that up to the Metroid's weakness to cold. Traces of a foreign energy were found in her body, particularly around her core, and try as they might, her systems could not identify what it was.

"Neutralize unknown energy," she said to the system's AI as she closed her eyes and braced herself for what was to come. After a quick calibration by the medical systems, she felt a light jolt go through her body, causing her to jump slightly. As the system scanned her again, it detected that the foreign energy had been neutralized and she had an otherwise clean bill of health.

Slowly, she stood up from the table and stood naked in the middle of the room.

"The moment of truth," she said as she braced herself and sent the signal from her brain to activate the suit.

Much to her relief and pleasant surprise, she felt the Fusion suit materialize around her like usual, and she felt like she was finally catching a break in this whole ridiculous ordeal.

"Hello, old friend," she said to the suit as she stretched out and flexed its muscles. So it was a little sad moments later when she deactivated it, feeling the painful pressure in her chest once more as it condensed and returned to her "nuclei".

She then turned to the discarded light blue jumpsuit and picked it up once more. Unpleasant memories flooded her mind as she remembered the catcalls and unwanted grabbing.

"Come on, Aran," she said to herself as she held the suit and felt the energy pulsing through it. "You know it's practical. Besides, you're so fucked up and hard-looking now, what human man would want to reach out and grab you? You're more than capable of defending yourself!"

Still, she was very sensitive about anyone touching her person, and she knew she had lethal reflexes and a hairpin trigger.

Pushing those memories out of her head, she slipped on the jumpsuit, pulling it easily over her form as though it had belonged there all along. As it had sat balled up in a drawer for the past ten years, she had forgotten just how comfortable and amazing it had felt on her skin. It was like bliss as its unique fabric slid over her form and it sealed itself up in the back. Everything about it just felt perfect, even with all of her body's changes over the years; the suit adapted to conform to all of them. She wondered why she had ever put it away for so long.

Flexing and stretching a bit, the jumpsuit moved with her perfectly, and she smiled. Even the boots built into it were perfect and practical for any situation.

Still, she thought of its reputation as a "zero suit" and decided to throw on a pair of jeans and a black hoodie over it to hide her very visible muscular form. The extra bulk of the clothes annoyed her and felt nowhere near as natural as the jumpsuit by itself, but she decided to just grin and bare it as she walked into the cockpit.

"Adam?" she said as she picked up and put on the earpiece.

"Good morning, Lady. I hope you were able to sleep last night."

Samus smiled sadly at the sound of her friend's voice. It was welcoming and familiar but she was not sure she would ever get used to hearing it coming out of a machine.

"I did. Thank you." She briefly thought about telling him about Abby's engagement, but decided against it for now. "I need you to do me a favor, Adam. I'm gong to hook you up to the ship and let you have access to all of it and become my main systems AI, all right?"

"…I'm honored to know you trust me with such a privilege."

"Yeah well, I need something only you can do."

"Anything."

"I need you to hack into Federation systems and find out everything you can about Project Zero. Where the training takes place, its connection to the rest of the Federation Force, what they're planning to do with it, and most importantly where I can find their labs and the Zero Host itself."

"Copy that, Lady. I'll begin at once."

As she plugged Adam's compact into her ship's dash, she smiled grimly. "This is it, you know," she said to the AI as well as herself. "No more running. No more side-quests. We're going after the Host, and we're going to destroy it. This is what you died for, Adam, and I'm not going to let that be in vain.


	28. Chapter 28: Nightfall

"Dr. Renpo, I have the reports you requested."

Calvin Renpo's face remained stoic as he took the papers from the young man and began scanning through them. They were standing together in one of the stainless steel bio-labs on the G.F.S. Arcadia . The room was not very large, but it was filled wall to wall with different computer terminals and holoscreens that gave the vital signs of various organisms not currently present. Overhead, the long tubes of fluorescent lighting shone down harshly on the two humans.

The young man who had handed the papers to Renpo looked to be freshly out of graduate school. His tan skin had a youthful glow, and his black hair was neatly groomed and styled. The white lab coat he wore was pristine and perfectly pressed and starched. He had not been in the Federation's employment very long, and he was bright and brimming with ideas often naively bordering on impossible or unethical.

Renpo finished scanning the papers and handed them back to the young man. "So you had twenty successful embryos. That's good, more than I had expected."

"Yes, Sir," the young man said as he turned to one of the computer ports and entered in a few codes. "However, the XR organism's synthesis is still in its infancy, and of the twenty successful embryos, only one of them is still viable."

As the scientist entered the final code, the wall in front of him appeared to disappear, replaced by a two-way mirror spanning its width. Renpo peered into the next room curiously as it appeared. It was a mostly empty room, similar in size to the one in which they stood, but rather than rows of holoscreens and terminals, there was only one computer unit. It was in the far corner of the room, and it displayed the weak vital signs of the room's sole occupant. From the terminal on the wall, a series of wires ran out to a sterile-looking metal exam table in the middle of the room.

On the exam table, there lay a peculiar-looking organism with the wires attached to its body in various places. Had Renpo not been familiar with the Federation's sacrificial test subject of choice, he might not have been able to recognize that the unconscious organism was a Space Pirate. More specifically, it was the head and body of a Space Pirate with its limbs and mandibles removed. Around its head, there was a white, crab-like creature. It's spiny limbs locked around the Pirate's face as its long tail encircled the creature's neck.

"How long until we know if the impregnation was successful?" Renpo asked the scientist, not bothering to look at him as he kept his eyes on the incapacitated Space Pirate and the face-hugger.

"Shouldn't be long now, Sir." The young scientist spoke with pride in his voice as he came to stand beside the doctor. "The hugger should fall off within the hour, and the XR organism will begin gestating in its host creature. It'll only be a few hours until birth after that, and because of its xenomorph traits, it shouldn't take long at all to reach maturity. Although it'll… heh… it'll be a bit bigger than a xenomorph." The young man began to chuckle but stopped when Renpo continued to stare that the pair of organisms entwined in the other room.

"And this is the only viable embryo?"

"Yes, Sir. XR organism embryo number thirteen." He smiled nervously. "We've been calling it XR-13 for short."

"Fair enough," Renpo replied absently.

"But Sir… um. We've been having a few concerns given the specific nature of this organism. Xenomorphs are a difficult and dangerous species on their own, but the other organism who DNA you had us use… well, it's just a horse of a completely different color."

Renpo glanced side-eyed at his companion. "What's your point?"

"Well, it's just… I know that you guys up in command don't have complete control of the Zero Host yet, and this particular strand of DNA you had us isolate from it… well, I think it's a good bit stronger than most, if not all, of the other individual species within the Host. This thing, it's going to be a beast when it hits maturity. A real beast, and I don't know how we're going to control it or utilize it in battle or—"

"Leave that to the military," Renpo replied coldly, shutting the scientist down instantly. "You just focus on the science. Focus on taking their ideas and bringing them to fruition."

"This just feels like overkill. No one's ever made anything like this before. There are a lot more species in the Host, species we've already been working with that won't eat us. Heck, even that Metroid lab we helped Biologic build wasn't—"

"There's been a threat to the security of Project Zero." Renpo kept voice cool as he turned fully to face his companion. "This organism will be our 'guard dog' so to speak should hostile forces breach our standard security."

The scientist stared at Renpo for a long minute, looking like he wanted to say something but then deciding not to do it. Instead, he turned to watch as the face-hugger suddenly unlatched itself from the Pirate's face before falling to the ground as a crumpled husk.

"XR-13 is going to be one hell of a watch dog," the scientist replied.

* * *

It was nearly evening by the time Samus stepped off of her ship and back onto the grounds of Blackacre. Though she and Adam had begun working on gathering information that morning, they had not made much headway until the last few hours. Even then, there were still a lot of barriers and dead ends as they searched desperately for anything that would provide any information on the location or subject matter of Project Zero.

Eventually the AI unit had told Samus that he had it under control and she should go back into the house to be with Elisa and the others. Though the bounty hunter had been tempted to make a snarky comment about the computer system's concern for her personal wellbeing, she bit her tongue and accepted it. Hearing Adam's voice as well as things the late General probably would have said had been eerie this entire time, but knowing his daughter was in the house made it particularly jarring. Still, she opted not to mention Abridgette's recent engagement.

As she walked through the cold, grassy fields, snow began to fall. Small flakes landed on Samus's face as she looked up at the grey clouds overhead. Though the cold stung her exposed face, she was thankful for the warmth her blue jumpsuit provided under her clothes. As long as she was out of her powersuit, it seemed to be the solution she needed for her new weakness to the cold.

As Samus stepped through the front door and walked through the old house, she could hear chatter coming from the living room and decided to head over that way. She moved stealthily, however, because as much as she liked everyone individually, there were more people in the house that she cared to interact with at once. Rather than make her presence known, she opted to stand by the doorway to the living room and peer in to see what the others were doing.

There was a great fire roaring in the hearth, and almost everyone was sitting around it. Elisa appeared to be talking to Morrigan while Maggie played on the floor with Buck. Hector and Abby sat curled up together on the couch, and Samus smiled as she watched them. There had never been a time in her life where she would have guessed that she would live long enough to see her son get engaged, and she was happy with his choice in a partner.

She felt strangely peaceful covertly watching the people she had come to know as friends and family, but she noticed there was something missing from the scene. Chance and Calline were nowhere to be found. Samus thought about going off to find them but decided to leave them for the time being. There was something else much more important that she had to do.

As she walked into the living room, everyone turned to look at her and smile. It was not a way she was used to people greeting her when she entered a room, but it felt good, and it filled her with a sudden overwhelming feeling of gratitude that she was able to see them all again.

"Good evening, Samus," Morrigan said as the mercenary walked over and took a seat on the couch beside Hector and Abby.

"Good evening, Morrigan," the bounty hunter replied with a smile. "Chilly night out there."

"Indeed." The old woman smiled but turned her attention back to her conversation with Elisa, understanding what Samus had come in to do.

Samus took the opportunity and turned to her son as he still sat cuddled up with Abby. "Hey, Spawn."

"Hey, Mom." Hector smiled as Abby leaned forward and waved at Samus.

"So," the bounty hunter began, "I hear you've got some big news to tell me."

The young man grinned as Abby held out her hand with the engagement ring. Samus took her hand and inspected it.

"It's absolutely lovely," Samus said quietly as she could feel the emotion welling up inside her once more. "I'm so happy for you both."

As Samus was trying to figure out the proper way to congratulate her son and his fiancée on their engagement, Hector reached out and threw his arms around her in a giant hug.

"Thanks, Mom. It really means a lot to me that you're here and we could do this in person."

A couple of tears rolled down Samus's cheeks as she hugged her son back. "I know. I still can't believe how close I came to never seeing any of you again." As she pulled away from their hug, she looked over to Abby and smiled. "Your father would be so proud to see the amazing woman you've grown into, Abby. And I couldn't be happier to know that you and Hector found each other."

Abby just smiled and nodded, clearly trying to hold back tears. Samus understood the young woman's silence and didn't press for anything more.

The Chozo had not had any sort of marriage equivalent by the time Samus had come to live with them on Zebes, so she had never understood why humans were so attached to the concept and its associated symbols. Although she and Elisa considered themselves "married", there had been no ceremony, and they had never exchanged rings or anything of the sort. There was something about seeing the ring on Abby's finger, however, and knowing that her son must have worked hard to save up money for such a ring, that made Samus understand why people might choose to use such symbols. Until now, it had not occurred to her that perhaps Elisa felt like there was something missing in their lives together given Samus's previous dismissal of anything remotely symbolic.

Samus turned to her partner and looked at her, and Elisa smiled back. The bounty hunter was not sure if she was just projecting when she caught a bit of sadness in her eyes and felt guilty for the first time about never having gotten her a ring or anything. Samus had never been one for jewelry given her profession, and it had just seemed more practical not to bother with such things.

"Elisa," she began but was cut off as the other woman threw herself into her arms, and Samus's doubt faded as she wrapped her arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Congratulations," Elisa said with a laugh as she looked up at Samus. "You're getting a daughter-in-law."

Samus smiled, recalling how she had once teased Adam that someday the two of them would be in-laws and have grandchildren together. It was bittersweet to see it coming to fruition now.

"Samus," Morrigan said suddenly, "Marjorine and I prepared dinner, and right before you came in, we were going to head into the dining room. I wasn't sure what time you were coming back to the house, but you are welcome to join us."

Samus smiled as she stood up. "Thank you, Morrigan. I would be happy to."

"Yes," Elisa added with an accusatory glare at Samus. "I imagine this one hasn't remembered to eat anything since I had to feed her those croissants yesterday morning."

Samus shot her a look back. "I drank coffee. That's like a food."

"No, dear. It's really not."

"Samus," Morrigan said as she and the others all stood up. "Would you mind going and getting the others? They went upstairs. I believe it's just Calline and that nice little fellow with the tail."

"Sure thing," Samus replied. "Which room are they in?"

"The room across the hall from yours."

Samus nodded, remembering how that room had once, unofficially, been Adam's room when the two of them first came to this place. Up until his death, it had often been referred to as such before becoming just "the room across the hall." She had not been able to bring herself to look in it since his passing.

The bounty hunter left the group and headed up the old wooden staircase, the one up which Adam had once carried her when she had been severely injured. She remembered that day clearly as he had laid her down on her bed and proceeded to cut two deeply embedded poisonous bullets out of her body. Then he had sat up watching her all night as she slept and recovered.

She paused on the staircase, holding the worn wooden handrail as she imagined for a moment that she could hear his footsteps and smell his scent, a mixture of coffee and a lightly musky soap. She could almost see his form beside her as other ghosts of his memory flickered across her senses.

_The sounds of missile fire. The smell of Typhlorian gas. The heat of the explosion._

Samus closed her eyes and took a deep breath as Adam's last moments flashed through her mind with enough force to nearly throw her off balance. She kept climbing the stairs, but the ghosts of the late General continued to flicker across her senses as the images aboard that derelict space vessel played over and over like a song she could not get out of her head.

The bounty hunter grunted and gripped the handrail tighter.

 _Fucking emotions,_ she thought to herself. _My fucking brain has to ruin what should be the happiest moment of my life so far._

She could feel her body tensing as a wave of dizziness and vertigo came over her, the same way she had felt when she had suffered the heat stroke in the pyrosphere, the same condition that had rendered her unable to fight and stop Adam from making the ultimate sacrifice. Her breathing increased rapidly as anxiety took hold in a way it had not in a very long time. She could feel her chest constricting as the smells of burning flesh and explosive gases filled her senses.

She tried to hold onto the rail as the full effects of the flashback gripped her, but the ground seemed to give way under her feet and the room was spinning too fast for her to regain her balance as she felt herself topple backwards down the stairs, hitting each step until at last she was flat on the floor and gripping it for dear life.

Her head hurt, and she was certain other parts of her must have hurt as well, but she was too dizzy to be certain. When she tried opening her eyes, she had to close them again quickly as the room spun around her. Her breathing was too fast, and she felt like she wasn't drawing in enough air. She could hear people running toward her and nervous voices calling out in the distance, but they were drowned out by the sounds of the explosions as her super missile had detonated the gas and set off the chain reaction that caused the entire station to self-destruct.

As people rushed from the living room to where Samus lay at the bottom the stairs, Elisa ran ahead of the group and made it to the bounty hunter's side first. As Samus's eyes opened for a moment before closing tightly, Elisa had a feeling she knew what was going on. The wild look in the hunter's eyes combined with the way her body was tensed up and trembling made it clear that she was in the throws of a severe anxiety attack, possibly even a full-fledged flashback.

"Samus," Elisa called softly as she knelt beside her partner and extended a hand tentatively toward her. The mercenary seemed completely unaware of her partner's presence, however, as she curled herself tightly into a fetal position and trembled. Gently, Elisa stroked her hair and said her name a few more times until she was able to maneuver Samus's head enough to pull it onto her lap.

Samus was muttering something incoherent, but Elisa continued petting her hair and speaking to her softly. She was certain now that Samus was having some kind of a flashback, and a very bad one at that, but she had no idea what had triggered it.

"Hector," she called out, turning to the group of onlookers that had gathered. "I need you to bring me her medicine."

His eyes grew wide as his mind started to race. "Where is it?"

Elisa could picture the drawer where Samus usually kept its bottle in their beside table at home, but there was no way to get there now. If she had brought it with her on her mission, it would have been on the ship that exploded near SR-388.

"I don't know," Elisa said after thinking about it for a while. "Find something. I haven't seen her this bad in a long time."

 _I just wish I knew what triggered it,_ Elisa thought as Samus's shaking became more violent and she sobbed into her partner's lab. She was hyperventilating so badly Elisa was not sure if she was going to pass out. She looked around, desperately trying to figure out what could have sent Samus into such an episode, but she was coming up blank.

"It's okay, Love." She brushed Samus's hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. The hunter's skin was clammy, and she was sweating and seemed terrified. "You're okay. I'm right here, and you're safe. All of us are safe. Everyone's all right, Love."

Samus opened her eyes and looked up at Elisa. She was just starting to come around when they suddenly heard frantic footsteps coming down the stairs as Calline raced toward them.

"Samus!" she cried out. "Oh my god, what happened to her?!"

"Calline—" Elisa tried to shout, but it was too late as the girl ran down and flung herself at Samus.

Within an instant, the disoriented bounty hunter lashed out and clawed the girl across the arm, throwing her backwards as she screamed.

"Samus!" Elisa yelled as she grabbed the bounty hunter around the shoulders and tried to calm her down. "Stop it! You'll hurt her!"

"Calline!"

Chance shouted as he rushed down the stairs and tried to tend to the girl's arm. However, she pushed him away as she jumped up and tried to run, but Chance grabbed her other hand and made her stop as Elisa was still trying to subdue Samus.

"Calline," he repeated as he held onto the girl's hand. "Don't run away! Let me see your arm!"

"No!" the girl shouted as she tried to pull away from Chance's grasp, but it was too late as several drops of blood ran down her injured arm and fell to the floor, burning holes in the wood where they fell.

Everyone in the room froze and turned to stare as steam rose up from where the acidic blood ate through the wood. Even Elisa glanced over as she finally got a struggling Samus to give in and lay back down with her head in her lap as she pet her.

"Calline…" Chance said as his eyes grew wide looking between the girl and the holes in the floor. "What's going on?"


	29. Chapter 29: All Fired Up

"Calline?" Chance stared at the girl as blood dripped from her arm, burning holes in the worn wooden floor. "What's going on?"

The girl fidgeted nervously as she looked between all of the people standing the foyer and staring at her. Chance seemed shocked but concerned while the others wore different expressions. Morrigan looked almost fearful to see the girl bleeding acid, but Hector and Abby gazed on almost stoically. Maggie held a nervous Buck in her arms as he hid his face in her chest. Only Elisa seemed completely uninterested as she focused on the barely conscious mercenary whose head was resting in her lap.

"I—" the girl began, looking around the room. "I— I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…."

"Calline," Chance said, slowly taking a step toward the trembling girl. "It's okay. Why didn't you tell me? Did the Federation do this to you too?"

Calline nodded, seeming to shrink into herself as she raised her hands to her face. "I'm sorry I lied… I didn't want you to think I was too dangerous and then leave me behind!"

"Hey, no," the lemur creature said with a soft smile. "It's ok. I understand."

Despite Chance's reassurances, the girl began to cry. "I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry, Chance! Please don't be—"

"Hey," Elisa cut her off, shooting the girl a cutting glare. "If you're going to keep up with the water works, do you mind getting out of here? Maybe actually doing something about that acid you're bleeding all over the floor?"

Calline blinked and stared in shock at Elisa's abruptness.

"Can't you see," Elisa continued as she pet the trembling mercenary's hair, "that we have a different crisis already unfolding here? Put some neutralizing powder on the cuts and then wrap your arm up in gauze like a normal person instead of whining about it. Don't you think you've done enough damage already by rushing in and throwing yourself at Samus while she was having an attack? Show some damn respect and get the hell out of here!"

The girl stared quietly at Elisa, not knowing what to say and surprised that the woman could sound so commanding while kneeling on the ground. "Y-Yes, Ma'am."

Abridgette stepped forward and put her arm gently around the girl's shoulders. "Come on, Calline. Let's go see where the first aid kit is."

As they began to leave the room, Morrigan and Maggie followed and began telling Abby where the medical supplies were. Only Hector and Chance stayed behind.

"Um… Elisa?" Hector said after a moment.

Elisa looked up at him, suddenly noticing his presence after having let herself get lost in thought. "Yes?"

"Is Mom all right? What happened to her?"

Elisa paused. She knew Samus could be very self-conscious about her anxiety disorder and one of her greatest fears was her son ever seeing her have an attack.

"She's fine, Hector." Elisa went back to petting the mercenary's hair. "She just had a flashback and took a nasty fall."

"Oh… did she hit her head?"

"I don't know. Why don't you go head over to wherever Abby is and go help out with Calline?"

Hector took one last look at Samus laying in Elisa's lap before he nodded and turned to walk away. He doubted Abby needed any help with Calline, but he also didn't think Samus or Elisa wanted him to stay near them.

Elisa waited for Hector to disappear down the hall with the rest of them before she leaned down and kissed the still-trembling Samus on her forehead. "It's all right, Love," she whispered to the bounty hunter as she gently wiped some of the sweat from her face. "You're safe now. Everything is all right now."

Samus's eyes slowly opened, but they didn't seem to see anything as they just gazed off distantly. She seemed to be in a daze as Elisa continued speaking softly to her and petting her hair. Chance watched quietly, not sure what to do, but he took a seat on the ground and wrapped his long bushy tail around his body as he watched the two women together.

"I'm going to go out on a limb," Elisa said as she looked toward the semi-human, "and guess she hasn't taken any of her medications since going on the run?"

Chance shook his head. "I put her on some antibiotics because she was wounded and it got infected, but that was it."

Elisa nodded, looked down at Samus, and sighed. "You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days, you know that? I know protecting the galaxy is more important to you than taking care of yourself, but don't you know you're no good to the galaxy when you let yourself get like this?"

"What happened?" Chance asked, inching closer to the two women. "Was it a seizure or something?"

Elisa shook her head. "I doubt it. I think she must have had a nasty flashback to something and it threw her off balance, and combined with falling down the stairs, she ended up having a massive panic attack."

"Oh…" Chance looked down at Samus who had ceased trembling but now had her eyes closed and looked almost peaceful as Elisa stroked her hair. "There was one night aboard the _Dreamboat Annie_ , our ship, that she had a nightmare. I heard her screaming and went to check on her. She said she had a dream where she watched her friend die."

"Adam," Elisa said, glancing down at Samus.

The bounty hunter's eyes opened and she stared languidly up at her partner at the sound of the late General's name. "A… dam?" she asked weakly.

Elisa kissed her forehead again. "Coming around, are you?" she asked in a soft, soothing voice. "I'm glad."

Samus looked up at her partner, a little more lucid now. "Elisa? What… what happened?"

"You had an attack, Love. And you fell down a flight of stairs."

"Oh… is that all?" Samus sounded groggy as she looked up at Elisa and then over to Chance. "Oh, hi Chancey."

The semi-human grinned. "Hi, Samus."

"Were you hurt anywhere?" Elisa asked.

The bounty hunter nuzzled into Elisa's lap. "I'm pretty sure I've been hurt everywhere at some point. Sometimes I wonder if the scar tissue is the only thing holding me together."

Elisa shook her head. "That's not what I meant. Are you hurting anywhere right now? Did you hit your head when you fell down the stairs?"

Samus thought about it for a minute. "Probably."

Elisa raised her eyebrows. "Probably?"

"Yes."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mmm…." Samus closed her eyes. "I think I hurt something but I can't remember."

"You can't remember?"

"Mmm… nope."

"Why can't you remember?"

"'Cause I hit my head when I fell down the stairs."

Elisa sighed in exasperation. "That's literally what I just asked you…"

Samus looked up at her in surprise but then looked over to Chance. "I hit my head."

Chance just smiled awkwardly. "I know."

Elisa gently pulled Samus further into her lap and wrapped her arms around the bounty hunter's chest. While it worried her that Samus probably had a concussion, she was just thankful the bounty hunter seemed more loopy than upset at the moment. "I worry about you, you know."

Looking up at Elisa, Samus seemed a little confused but genuinely concerned. "You know it would take more than falling down the stairs to kill me."

Much to the bounty hunter's surprise, a couple of tears rolled down her partner's face as she held onto Samus tighter. "I know it takes more than that to kill you, but dammit Samus, I just hate seeing you get _hurt_ and you're really good at that. And I get scared!"

Samus's eyes grew wide as she reached up with one hand and wiped the tears from Elisa's cheeks. "I'm not hurt bad or anything. Just a few bruises at most. No broken bones.

Elisa closed her eyes and the tears started falling faster as she actively began crying. "Y-you don't understand, Samus… I thought I lost you!"

"Because I fell down the stairs?"

"Because you were gone and I thought I would never see you again!" Elisa sobbed as she held Samus even tighter. "Because you blew up a planet and had to flee, and you were gone from me forever! And then they thought I knew where you were and they took me to that awful place, and I can't even tell you what they did to me there! And I didn't know if you were safe or if they had caught you too or what they were doing to you!"

Samus clumsily tried to sit up, but Elisa held her down and the bounty hunter didn't try too hard to break her partner's grasp. "Elisa…"

"You could have been dead for all I knew!"

The mercenary stopped trying to sit up and instead snuggled into her partner's lap and kissed her leg. "But I'm not dead. I'm right here, and I love you. I'm not leaving you behind ever again."

Elisa's tears let up for a moment as she looked down at Samus in her arms. "What happened just now? What happened that made you fall down the stairs?"

Samus closed her eyes and took a breath. "I got dizzy. I was thinking about Adam and flashed back to his death on that bottle ship. When I had the heat stroke and couldn't stand up right. Everything started spinning and I could hear the explosions. Then there's a blank spot until when I woke up and you were holding me and said I fell down the stairs."

Elisa steadied her breathing as she looked down at Samus and nodded. "What triggered that?"

Samus thought about it for a little while, her lips pressed tight as she recalled the details leading up to the attack. "Seeing Hector and Abby engaged. It made me so happy. I just wished he could have been there…"

"Wait," Chance said, looking confused as he glanced between Samus and Elisa. "I really don't know much about this stuff, but I thought flashbacks were triggered by scary things?"

Elisa smiled sadly. "Not always."

Samus just nodded. "Scary things rarely bother me. I'm used to those. I'm trained to handle entire planets full of things that want to kill me. This is different. I'm happy Hector and Abby are moving forward in their lives, but I'm sad because it's something I used to tease Adam about. I'm not used to these feelings together, and sometimes they just get so tangled up I don't know how to feel them and…" She paused. "I wish it were more straight forward, but my… _condition_ is a little messier than that."

Elisa ran her fingers through Samus's hair. "And then she skulks off and beats herself up for not being able to feel happy when everyone else is. Happiness is a complicated feeling for someone who's lost so many people that she's cared about." She gave Samus a gently scolding look. "But I keep telling her she doesn't have to beat herself up over something like that. The fact that she needs a little extra time and her own space to sort out her feelings doesn't rain on anyone else's parade."

Samus looked embarrassed and just nodded wordlessly.

"And honestly," Elisa continued, eyeing Samus impishly, "I'd rather she take some alone time to sort out those feelings instead of getting overwhelmed and punching spaceship hulls until they're dented beyond repair."

Samus's face blushed a deep red as she turned to look at Chance. "I was a bit less stable when I first came to Earth five years ago. I've had to really work on myself since the Space Pirate War ended."

"She's come a long way," Elisa said, placing a kiss on her lover's forehead. "Even if we do hit a few bumps from time to time."

"Oh," Samus said, looking like she had suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of bumps, I think I hit my head on the stairs when I fell down."

Elisa laughed and kissed her forehead again. "Well, that settles it. I am now thoroughly convinced that you are concussed."

The mercenary smiled awkwardly. "Oh…"

Chance' tail flicked at he looked from Samus to Elisa. "I do have some medical training. I can take care of her."

Samus just shook her head. "It's not the worst injury I've ever had. I think just taking it easy tonight should be enough."

Elisa nodded. "Everyone else has probably already started dinner without us. We'll just get some food and fluids in her, and she'll probably be fine in a few hours. The nice thing about her being so accident prone is that I actually have a good sense of how long it will take her to heal from anything."

The mercenary and her partner stood slowly, Elisa helping Samus to balance as she got to her feet. As soon as she was upright, however, Samus seemed more stable, and Elisa was able to relax a bit.

Chance smiled. "You two are adorable together."

Samus laughed. "First time I've ever been called adorable."

Without warning, the lemur creature stepped forward and gave Samus a big hug, wrapping his long fluffy tail around her body.

"Hey," Samus laughed, hugging him back. "What's this for?"

"You just looked like you need it," he replied before turning to Elisa and pulling her into a three-way hug. "You, too." His tail wrapped around all of them as the shared the hug for a moment before breaking apart.

"Wow, Chance," Elisa said as they turned to walk toward the dining room. "Your fur is so soft. What do you condition it with?"

The lemur man beamed with pride. "It's my own concoction. I can show you how to make it later if you want."

"That would be awesome," she replied as she slipped one of her hands into his and the other into Samus's. Together, the three of them held hands as they walked to join the rest of their group for dinner.

It didn't take long for everyone to eat once Samus, Chance, and Elisa joined them at the table. Samus, in particular, had not realized just how hungry she was as she devoured everything on her plate and even took a second helping. Despite the earlier commotion, dinner was one of those rare times when there was no talk of missions, danger, or the Federation, and no one mentioned Samus's accident on the stairs. Instead, the dinner was treated as a celebration of Hector and Abby's engagement, and the whole group feasted on turkey, fresh vegetables, breads, cheeses, and wine.

By the end of the meal, everyone was very full and a few people were even blissfully tipsy as the group dispersed. Hector and Abby, practically glowing from excitement and wine, headed into the living room with Morrigan, Maggie, Buck, and Chance. Elisa and Samus headed into the kitchen, insisting that Morrigan and Maggie rest while they cleaned up. They figured it was only fair since the other two women had done all of the cooking.

Once everything was off the table, however, Elisa shooed Samus over to the small kitchen table to sit and rest while she did the dishes. Normally the bounty hunter would have put up more of a resistance, but she knew how important it was to Elisa that she rest, and her head was still hurting. As though able to read her mind, Elisa went into the freezer, grabbed an ice pack, and gave it to her lover to apply to the bump on her head. Samus smiled, once again wondering how she had gotten lucky enough to find someone who not only cared about her but also was able to anticipate her needs and help her out without her asking.

Elisa was just finishing up the dishes when they heard a knock coming from the kitchen entryway. Both women looked over to see a very nervous looking Calline standing in the door frame, and Samus's eyes dated directly to the bandage wrapped around the girl's arm.

"Calline?" the bounty hunter asked. "Are you all right? What happened to your arm?"

The girl's eyes widened as she looked at the bounty hunter. She was already pale as a ghost and looked almost frightened of Samus. "You don't remember?"

The mercenary shook her head, and Elisa turned off the water, quietly regarding the teenager.

"You… clawed me," Calline replied, confusion evident in her voice.

Samus raised her eyebrows. "I did?"

"Y-you don't remember?"

Samus shook her head.

"Oh… you were on the floor and I got scared and ran up to you but—"

"I lashed out at you," Samus finished for her and frowned. "I'm sorry Calline. If you ever see me like that, well, it's best not to approach."

"Samus," Elisa said quietly, not taking her eyes off of the girl in the doorway, "we discovered that Calline bleeds acid blood like you do."

Samus tilted her head curiously as she looked between her wife and the girl. "You do? Was that part of the Project Zero experiment also?"

Calline nodded. "The Host bleeds acid. I didn't want anyone to know… I was afraid they wouldn't let me stay with them. You bleed acid too?"

The mercenary nodded. "I do. I have the genes of a few different creatures in my DNA."

"I wanted to come in here," Calline began, "to apologize for upsetting you and running at you earlier. I got scared seeing you on the ground…"

Samus held up her hand. "No, Calline. _I'm_ sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. You were just worried about me and didn't know about my reflexes. I'm sorry I cut up your arm."

"So… it doesn't bother you that I bleed acid?"

The mercenary shook her head. "No." Then suddenly an idea occurred to her, and she was surprised she had not thought of it sooner. "Calline, you were part of Project Zero for a couple of years and then escaped, right?"

The girl nodded.

"What if I told you I wanted to infiltrate and destroy the project? Rescue any of the children who were being used as test subjects and destroy the Federation's bioweapons research?"

Calline's mouth fell open as she stared at Samus in shock. "I'd say you're crazy. I know you're a strong warrior, but you wouldn't stand a chance against the stuff they're engineering there. And the Host…"

"Have you actually seen the Host?"

Calline shifted uncomfortably and fidgeted. "No. But I'm psychic. And I bleed acid, and there are other species in the Host. Strong species, and the derivative creatures… you wouldn't stand a chance."

Samus's mind flashed back briefly to her battle with Silver Wing and how completely powerless she had been against his telekinetic abilities. She shuddered to think of taking on another psychic enemy like that. "I'm stronger than you think, Calline. And if I don't stop the Zero Host experiments, who will?"

The girl shivered but balled her hands up into fists. "I-I will…"

"You?" Samus raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know where to begin? Where they keep the experiments? Where they keep the Host?"

"I-I know… a little." Her voice broke, and she sounded terrified but she pushed on. "I know about the man who oversees the experiments and where a lot of the monsters are stored while they're making them. I know where I trained with the Federation Force, but I doubt they have that facility open anymore since we escaped."

"But do you think the same man is still in charge and that they still build the monsters in the same place?"

Calline nodded. "The man wasn't there when we escaped. He works for the government and oversees the program, but he wasn't in charge of training us. He just designed the experiments."

"You've seen the man?" Samus asked.

"Yes. When I was taken to have my procedures… when they made me into what I am now, we were taken to his ship. That's how I know the monsters were made there."

"Do you remember the name of the ship where they made the monsters?" Samus asked gently. "Or the name of the man?"

The girl nodded, and by this point she was visibly shaking as she recalled the traumatic events. "He was a doctor in a white lab coat. The ship was called the _Arcadia_ , and his name was Dr. Renpo."

Samus's mind raced as she searched her brain for where she had heard that name before. It sounded so familiar but the fog of the concussion still made it difficult to think. As it hit her all at once, she stood bolt upright and gasped, knocking the chair to the ground.

"That's it!" she exclaimed as memories came flooding back of waking up injured after her mission to SR-388 and finding that pieces of her suit had been cut away. "The _Arcadia_! That's where they injected me with the Metroid DNA. Of course! Adam said there was a scientist named Renpo involved in the Zero Host project! That must have been the doctor who cut the pieces of my suit off of me!"

Samus's head was spinning with the revelation. She was not sure why she had not put two and two together sooner. Of course the vessel that just so happened to come up with the Metroid vaccine had been the hotbed of bioweapon experimentation she had been searching for. And of course the Zero Host project would have been trying to dabble in Metroid experimentations as well.

The existence of the Xenotroids on the bottle ship also made sense now. Adam had been looking for the Zero Host, and the creatures they had come across had been derivatives of the Host. Perhaps that was even why they knew Samus's xenomorph DNA would be compatible with the Metroid vaccine. She could have kicked herself for not realizing the connection sooner. She had been right there on the _Arcadia_ at the start of this mission, probably closer to the Zero Host than she had ever imagined. The Metroid cells they had injected her with had probably come from the Zero Host, making her, in some ways, also one of its derivative creatures.

"We have to get to the Arcadia!" Samus exclaimed excitedly, looking toward Elisa. She was surprised to find the woman wore a completely blank expression. "What's wrong?"

"Um," Calline said, looking at Samus, "who's Adam?"

"What?" The bounty hunter was confused by the sudden change in topic.

"Who's Adam? You said that Adam said that Dr. Renpo was involved with the Zero Host. Who's Adam?"

Samus hesitated. "He's a computer program. I named him after a very dear friend of mine who passed away a couple of years ago."

If it were possible, Calline's big eyes grew even wider. "Was it Adam Malkovich? The General?"

Samus nodded. "Yes. Do you remember hearing about his death on the news?"

Calline shook her head. "N-no. I was part of Project Zero at that time. Back when it was still illegal and underground. He was opposed to the project and all bioweapon experiments."

Samus nodded. "Yes. He was. He was a staunch opponent of unethical genetic experiments. And he was an important General who helped us win the Space Pirate War."

"I know," Calline replied. "That's why he was going to become Secretary of Defense."

"What?" Samus felt like someone had just slapped her across the face.

"General Adam Malkovich. Before he left office, Former Chairman Keaton was going to appoint him to the Secretary of Defense position so he would be grandfathered in under the McKinnon administration."

"I… I never knew that." Samus found herself at a loss for words. "Did Adam know that?"

Calline nodded. "All the Generals did. That's why they leaked the information to him about the Zero Host and the location of where some of the monsters were being kept."

"What?"

"Yeah… their computer division was pretty good at doing stuff like that. False leads. He must have taken the bait because they said he went to that ship and blew himself up to take out the monsters there."

Samus felt the world falling out under her feet again, and she almost fell over. But she gripped the table to steady herself, forcing her mind to stay in the present even as the sounds of the explosions rang out in her ears again. "They killed him."

Calline seemed confused by Samus's reaction. "I'm sorry about your friend."

But Samus wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were wild and unfocused as she looked over to Elisa. "They planned it. Th-they murdered him. All this time… I blamed myself. They planned it all along. They planted those things there because they knew he would sacrifice himself!"

"Samus," Elisa began, but even she didn't know what to say. The revelation was a shock to her as well.

"This was all fucking Harper's plan!" Samus shouted. "I knew I should have finished the job when my hands were around that bitch's throat! She murdered Adam so she could become Secretary of Defense! She knew there wasn't time for Keaton to appoint someone else before McKinnon took office!"

Samus's face contorted wildly, and she looked like she was going to growl. Elisa felt helpless as Calline gasped and backed away from the angry mercenary.

"Fuck!" Samus screamed as she whirled around and punched through one of the walls. "Fuck it all! He died for nothing! I killed him! I killed him for nothing!"

"Samus," Elisa said softly as she approached the mercenary, whose fist was bleeding by this point. "Oh, Samus…"

The bounty hunter turned to Elisa, her eyes wild with rage. "No more fucking around here. We leave tomorrow. We're going to the _Arcadia_ , and by the time I'm done there, Renpo and Harper will be lucky if the worst thing I've done is killed them."


	30. Chapter 30: Wild Heart

Elisa's heart nearly stopped when she woke up to the empty bed. For the first few seconds, she thought she was back there again, back in prison. She could smell the piss and rotting flesh that stained the stalls around her and the stench of Space Pirate all over her own cell from its previous occupant. Her breath came quickly, and for a moment she couldn't feel her robotic right arm as a sharp shot of adrenaline raced through her body.

But the moment passed, and she realized she was in the room she normally shared with Samus at Morrigan's house. Only the bounty hunter was not beside her this morning. It was the first time since her prison break that she had woken up alone. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she stood up shakily, her bare feet cold as ice on the hardwood floor. There was a chill and uneasiness in her she was not used to experiencing, and all she could think was that she desperately wanted Samus. If she could see and hold the hunter, it would prove that waking up and thinking she was still in prison had been nothing more than a bad dream.

Normally, she would use the bathroom, wash up, and dress before heading downstairs, but she skipped that process today, not even bothering to put on a bra under her tee shirt. She did, however, pause to put on a pair of jeans before rushing out the door to look for Samus. Fortunately, it didn't take her long to find the bounty hunter.

Samus was sitting at the kitchen table with Calline while Chance appeared to be scrambling up some eggs. Elisa's nose was filled with the smell of sizzling bacon, but she ignored it as she made her way over to where Samus was. She must have looked like a wreck because concern was clear in the mercenary's eyes as she regarded her partner.

"I woke up," Elisa began, breathless from rushing down the stairs so quickly, "and you… you weren't there."

Samus's eyes grew wide with alarm, and she didn't say anything as she stood up, walked over to her partner and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"I'm here," Samus said, and her strong, deep voice made Elisa relax as she fell into her embrace. "I'm sorry."

Elisa had never been the type to panic or run downstairs half dressed and frantic looking for her. Normally the woman had an incredible amount of patience and could keep her head in any situation, so it alarmed Samus to see her in such a state. But as the mercenary held her wife and felt her body begin to relax and melt into her, she understood all too well what was happening with her partner.

"I'm sorry," Samus repeated fighting with herself to prevent her rage at the Federation from eclipsing her compassion. "I'm right here though, and I meant it when I said I would never leave you again."

"I know," Elisa whispered, resting her head on Samus's chest. "I'm sorry I overreacted."

Samus laughed. "Don't worry about it. You didn't overreact, and besides, you're talking to the woman who had a panic attack and fell backwards down a flight of stares yesterday." She pressed her hand up to the back of her skull and grit her teeth. "I'm not sure, but I think I might have hit my head at some point during that."

"Oh, Samus," Elisa said, pushing away and staring up at the mercenary with intense concern. "Don't tell me you still—"

"Relax," Samus said, holding her hands up and snickering. "I kid. I kid. I remember hitting my head. My memory is fine now."

Elisa frowned at the mercenary. "Not funny, Samus."

"Heh. This is why I get paid to shoot things, not do comedy."

"Still not funny," Elisa insisted, but she smirked as she suddenly remembered Chance and Calline were there also. "So tell me, what's going on in here?"

"Good morning, Elisa!" Chance said with a big grin as he scooped some of the eggs and bacon out onto three plates. "We were just about to sit down to breakfast." Then he took one of the plates and handed it to Elisa. "Here, you have mine since I only made three, and I'll just whip one more up for myself."

Elisa smiled. "Thank you, Chance. That's really sweet."

"No problem!" he replied as he returned to cooking.

Samus carried her and Calline's plates over to the table as she and Elisa took seats. There were already several glasses and a big pitcher of orange juice waiting on the table.

"Wow," Elisa said as she picked up her fork and looked at the fully set table. "You really went above and beyond, Chance."

The semi human laughed. "Well, a certain mercenary wanted to rush out of here as soon as the sun rose, but I remember you mentioning she has a tendency to forget to eat and take care of herself. I wanted to make sure if she was going to up and do that, she was at least in fighting shape, and I'm sorry, but not even the great Samus Aran has the power to resist the smell of freshly sizzling bacon."

The bounty hunter nodded as she swallowed and took a sip of orange juice. "It's true. It's my one weakness. Don't tell Mother Brain."

Elisa playfully nudged Samus, and they both smiled. "Now you're just being silly." Elisa paused for a moment before turning to Calline who had been watching her nervously the entire time. "Hey, Calline. Look, I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you yesterday. I know it doesn't excuse how rude I was, but I thought Samus was hurt, and I panicked."

Calline stared back at Elisa with her big gray eyes. They looked almost creepy with her ghostly light hair. "Wait… you're apologizing? To _me?_ Why?"

"I guess that's just what people are supposed to do when they're wrong."

Calline eyed her skeptically. "You're so weird."

Elisa let out a half-strangled laugh as she looked between the girl and a very amused Samus. "Yeah… I guess I have to be a little weird considering how many years I've lived with this one." She playfully nudged Samus again, and the bounty hunter raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not sure what you're implying, Love," Samus said, giving Elisa a side-eye glance, "but we do actually have business to attend to. Calline and Chancey were just telling me that they've finished making their portion of the recording, the one we want to go viral to expose the crimes of the McKinnon administration. And they were asking if they could come with us to the _Arcadia_ today."

Chance sat down with his food, taking a seat beside Calline as both of them turned their attention to Elisa.

"Oh," she replied quietly, taking a moment to choose her next words as she looked over to her wife. "You still want to go there today?"

"I told you yesterday." Samus's tone grew deathly serious. "I'm going after Renpo and Harper. And whatever sick shit they've got cooking up in that lab of theirs. I'm not letting this go on one day longer than it has to."

"But…" Elisa fumbled with her fork, her breath becoming tight in her chest. "What… what about your wounds?"

Samus shrugged. "I'm healed enough. Another day or two here wouldn't change much."

"But… that beam attack. The green one that—"

"I'll deal with that when I get to it," Samus replied tersely. It was a legitimate concern and one she did not have a solution for, but she couldn't let her enemies get away with it just because she was afraid to fight them.

"But what about…" Elisa's breath was coming more quickly as a bolt of terror jolted through her. "What about your PTSD?"

Samus just froze, staring blankly at her partner for a long, awkward minute. "My… PTSD?"

Realizing what she had said, Elisa just nodded silently.

"When," Samus began, "has that ever stopped me before? Elisa… you know that I don't—"

"I'm sorry," the other woman interjected quickly. "That was out of line. I'm sorry. Really. I'm just so worried…"

Samus quickly took her partner's hands in hers and looked her deep in the eyes. "Don't be sorry. Never be sorry for caring about my wellbeing. You've been one of the only people who's ever been able to keep me grounded, and you've stood by my side during some of the darkest parts of my life. Never be sorry for worrying about me. But please, Elisa, don't try to stop me either."

Elisa was quiet for a moment, but eventually she nodded. She knew what she had been getting herself into when she had chosen to get involved with Samus, and she couldn't put her fear of losing the bounty hunter before the sake of the galaxy. "I understand."

"Thank you," Samus said, pulling her into a close embrace. "I'm sorry, but this is what I have to do."

"I understand," Elisa just repeated as she gently pulled away from Samus, but she leaned in and kissed the mercenary's cheek. "And I love you for your selflessness, even if it's difficult sometimes."

"Hey, you!" Chance called out, pointing his fork at Samus. "I told you already, you need to eat! So don't try to distract me by getting all cuddly with Elisa! Food, then coffee, _then_ kicking Federation ass. Don't go trying to switch up the order."

"Yeah, Samus," Elisa taunted. "You heard what he said. Eat up. You need your strength."

The bounty hunter rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me I've got two of you on my back now." She made a show of protesting, but she returned to eating without too much of a fight. Despite how much she didn't want to admit it, Samus knew Elisa and Chance were right. If she stood any chance of taking on the Host or the Federation now that it had that weird beam weapon, she was going to need every ounce of strength she could muster.

* * *

It had been difficult saying goodbye to the group, particularly to Morrigan and Hector, but Samus knew it was for the best. Even though her son had requested to accompany her on her mission to the _Arcadia,_ they both knew her answer would be no. Instead, the bounty hunter had instructed Hector to stay home with Abby and work on editing the film they were making and getting it to the Federation. Before boarding Samus's ship with Calline and Elisa, Chance had given the young couple information about ways to get in touch with the _Dreamboat Annie_ in order to collect more data they could use against the McKinnon administration.

There were no safe jobs on this mission, but Samus hoped that Hector and Abby's job was at least the safest one she could delegate. She knew they were in touch with Admiral Dane, and either he would be able to help them out or they had just dragged him into a worse situation than they had previously imagined, endangering his life as well.

They were getting close now to where Adam had traced the location of the _Arcadia_ , and while it was still in the back of Samus's mind that the Federation might have intended for her to find it, she was not sure of any other options at this point. There were no other leads about the Zero Host aside from its ties to the Federation Force.

Thankfully, her ship's cloaking devices were superior to any of the Federation's detection systems. That was the advantage of being one of the only beings in the galaxy who knew how to work with ancient Chozo technology. As the _Arcadia_ came into view, Samus flew in next to it, shutting off the main thrusters so as to attract as little attention as possible. Even with superior cloaking, she never wanted to get too comfortable and make a mistake.

"Adam, take control for a while," she told the AI system as she stood up. She was only wearing the skintight blue suit with the pink Chozo markings, but it wasn't long before she activated her Fusion Suit. Once again clad in the orange and yellow armor, she turned to leave the cockpit.

"Just a moment, Lady," the AI called to her as she was about to leave.

"What's up?" Samus asked, turning back.

"Doesn't it feel a bit odd to you? There are no radars detecting our location."

"Oh." Samus shrugged. "Chozo tech. Comes in handy. Feds can't see it."

"I'm aware of the ship's technology, Samus. I'm currently functioning as its central nervous system. I'm also familiar with the _Arcadia_ , however, and regardless of if it can see you or not, this ship should be projecting some kind of radar."

The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow behind her visor. "So what are you thinking?"

"Tread lightly, Samus." The computer's voice took on an ominous tone. "I have a feeling something isn't right aboard that ship, and we need you to come back alive."

"Heh." She shrugged. "I never make promises about that."

Adam's warning replayed in her head as she stepped into the medical bay to see the anxious faces of Chance, Calline, and Elisa all looking up at her for guidance.

"You know your places," the hunter said simply, looking around to the three of them. "And you know what to do in the event something happens and I can't come back. Elisa can interface with the ship's AI, and all of you get the hell out of dodge. I'll be in touch over my suit's com unit."

"Samus," Elisa said, taking a step forward.

Anticipating her wife's next move, Samus met her halfway and pulled her into a tight embrace. It may have seemed awkward to see Elisa hugging the mercenary's heavily armored form, but they fit together strangely well. The organic layer of the Fusion Suit felt soft like skin as Samus loving ran her left hand through Elisa's dark hair. Even the organic orange layers on the chest plate felt surprisingly warm and soft as Elisa nuzzled her face into her lover's chest and rested there for a moment.

"Come back safely," she said after a moment before pulling back slightly, standing on her tip toes and planting a small kiss on the bounty hunter's visor. "I love you, Samus Aran, and when you get back and this is all over, maybe we can get back to the life we were planning before Harper and all this Zero Host stuff came into our lives."

Samus smiled under the helmet. "I'd like that, Love."

As the two women separated, Samus bent down and planted an awkward helmet kiss on top of Elisa's head, causing the smaller woman to laugh.

"I know you've got a goofy side to you, Love," Elisa said with a grin. "I'm just not used to seeing it when you've got your war suit on."

"Heh," Samus replied. "It's still me underneath." Then the hunter turned to Chance. "Hey Chancey, while Calline and Elisa head into the cockpit, do you mind accompanying me back by the exit hatch. I've got some last minute mission stuff to go over with you."

"Huh?" The lemur creature looked surprise, but he grinned. "Sure, I'd be glad to help you out."

"Thank, Chancey," Samus replied as the two semi-humans headed for the back of the ship and the girl and the other woman headed for the front.

When they got back into the area with the prisoner holding chambers and the exit hatch, Samus closed the door quickly behind her and looked Chance dead in the eyes.

"Look, Chancey," she began, keeping her voice low and serious. "I need you to keep an eye on Elisa. What happened in the kitchen back at Blackacre and the way you told me she snapped at Calline… something's wrong. I don't know what they did to her in that prison, and I didn't want to bring it up before she was ready, but I know post-traumatic stress when I see it. I've been analyzed by enough damn shrinks I could write a book on it."

"You think Elisa's got PTSD?" Chance asked, cocking his head to the side.

Samus shook her head. "It's too soon to tell. Symptoms have to be recurring at least six months after the traumatic incident for that diagnosis. That's what all the doctors Adam and Elisa made me go to said anyway. I think, if nothing else, she's having some kind of acute stress reaction, and I don't want it to get any worse."

"Okay, sure." His tail flicked nervously. "What do you want me to do?"

"Look, you're a pretty friendly, happy little guy. Just keep the mood light. Make her smile. Be goofy. Something." Samus frowned even though her companion couldn't see if. "Don't let her go off too far into her head. Be optimistic. At least try to keep her spirits up until I can come back and take care of her. I'm worried about her."

Chance nodded. "I can do that. Fortunately, being myself is kind of what I do best."

"Good," Samus said, but her voice sounded flat and tired. "I love that woman, and I can't stand seeing her hurting."

"I get that, Samus. It's the same way she feels about you."

Samus didn't say anything as she just let his words sink in.

"Hey Samus," Chance began after a moment, "if you don't mind me asking, what was the life you and Elisa were planning before all of this Zero Host stuff? What was she referring to?"

Samus stared at him, her eyes widening in legitimate surprise. "That's… that was something from a long time ago. I don't know why she brought that up."

"What was it?"

The bounty hunter fidgeted uncomfortably, internally debating what she wanted to disclose to Chance. "Well, a few years back, when she and I first got 'married' we were talking about starting a family together. I'm sterile, but she isn't, and they have so much new technology now… we figured maybe we could take some of my somatic cells, modify them, and combine them with some of her gametes. And then maybe, through in vitro… But then Adam was murdered, and I was arrested. And when I got out of jail I started drinking heavily and frequently… It just wasn't a good time. Even after I sobered up, the Feds were always watching us. So we got the dogs instead…"

Samus paused, wondering what had become of all of their animals after Elisa had been arrested. The most likely scenario was that the neighbors had seen them running about the streets and taken them in until they could find somewhere to rehome them.

"Given all that's happened now," Samus continued, "it's better that we never tried becoming parents. I was a shit mom to my son for the first fifteen years of his life, and I would have just made the other kid's life a living hell with all I've been dragged into lately. I was never cut out to be a parent. I don't know why Elisa is bringing that up now."

"Hey," Chance scolded, giving Samus a look. "That kid was thrilled to show you he got engaged. And he and his fiancée infiltrated a maximum-security military prison by themselves. I mean, I don't know all of the details of your relationship with him, but he's a strong young man, and I think whatever effect you did have on him must have been a good one because he's a little reckless, but he's got a good head on his shoulders and he loves you."

Samus froze for a moment, but then she threw herself forward and grabbed Chance in a tight embrace as she lifted him completely off the ground. The lemur creature panicked a bit at first as his tail instinctively wrapped around Samus for support, but then he relaxed into her arms and hugged her around her neck.

"Thank you, Chancey." The bounty hunter placed him gently back on his feet. "You're a good one."

He smiled softly. "Anytime, Stevie."

Samus smiled under her visor as she turned and faced her ship's hatch. With a deep breath, she headed toward it, stepped on it, and felt the airtight tube descend around her as she dropped down from the bottom of the ship and jumped out into space. Sparing no time, Samus leapt from the ship's platform and flew into a combination space jump-screw attack as she launched herself over to the hull of the _Arcadia_.

It was a massive ship, easily hundreds of times larger than her own, thought not quite as large as the B.S.L. had been. Samus wondered once more why she had not thought that the very ship that injected her with Metroid cells might have been harboring dangerous and illegal genetic experiments. She did not have much time to think, however, because within seconds she was close enough to shoot out her grapple beam and grab ahold of the ship. Pulling herself closer, she clung to the wall, taking whatever hand and footholds she could find before shooting her grapple beam out again and pulling herself farther along the ship's side.

She continued this grappling and clinging process until she found what appeared to be an entrance hatch on the side of the ship, the type a gangplank would have descended from had it been docked.

"Adam," she called to the AI unit through her suit's com system. "I'm by an entry hatch. What kind of code do I need to open this damn thing?"

"Sending codes now," the AI's voice came into her ears as a message flashed across her HUD. "All you need to do is insert the tip of your arm cannon into the slot next to the hatch. It should open without setting off any alarms."

"All right," the bounty hunter replied, sticking her arm cannon into the reader beside the door. "I hope you know what you're talking about."

Much to the bounty hunter's surprise, the hatch opened as predicted, and she swung herself into the pressurizing chamber as the hatch closed behind her. Waiting a minute for the room to pressurize, Samus thought she heard a dull ringing in the distance. It was not until the second hatch opened and she stepped into the main part of the ship that she realized it was completely dark inside save for some flashing red lights. The sound she had heard from the pressure chamber was an alarm going off in the distance, but even that sounded like it was on its last leg.

Holding her arm cannon out in front of her, Samus proceeded slowly through the desolate ship. She had expected to find something out of the ordinary here, but she had not expected this. Thoughts of the derelict bottle ship and the B.S.L. raced through her mind as she found herself looking over her shoulder, half expecting to see the SA-X behind her. But she ignored her anxiety as she pressed on, exploring the ship.

It was not long before she came to a fork in the corridors where the floors were stained with a bright red liquid. She didn't need her scan visor to let her know it was human blood, and even with the flashing red lights, she could see trails of it covered the floors and the walls of the corridors. Samus's heart pounded in her chest, but she pressed forward, cannon and plasma beam at the ready.

She only walked for a few minutes before she found someone lying on the ground halfway into one of the rooms. A quick scan of their bio signs showed they were still alive, and from the bloody white lab coat they wore, Samus could tell they were a scientist or a doctor of some sort. Kneeling down, Samus gently turned over the body to reveal the face of a young woman with dark hair. Her eyes barely started to open, but Samus could already see their look was one of pure terror.

"G…et…out…" the woman barely managed to say before her eyes rolled back in her head and her body thrust upward in a violent convulsion.

Samus jumped back, cannon trained at the woman's midsection as another convulsion rocked her body. This time, however, something seemed to be thrusting itself out of her chest. On the third convulsion, Samus could hear the sickening sound of ribs cracking as a bloody creature burst from her chest and stared at Samus, hissing and baring its sharp teeth.

Samus recognized the chestburster stage of the xenomorph right away and was about to shoot it when something very strange happened. As it emerged from her body, it unfurled two pairs of bloody, membrane-like wings and hissed at her again before scurrying away and disappearing into the room the scientist had obviously been trying to get into.

Cursing herself for not shooting the creature in time, Samus knew it was pointless to pursue it. Where there was one of those nasty alien babies, there were more of them, and by the looks of this place, a xenomorph outbreak was responsible for all of the carnage. Assuming these bizarre winged xenomorphs were anything like the originals, there would be a queen somewhere on this ship, and that was where Samus needed to go.

As she ran through the dark corridors of the ship, she could tell she was getting closer to the epicenter of the xenomorph attack. The stench of death filled the air, and the blood on the floor and walls got thicker. More and more dead bodies lined the way the farther she rushed into the heart of the ship.

It was only when she heard the shrieking roar that she slowed down at all, her hair standing on end. She knew that sound, knew it all too well. As she slowly approached the broken armored doors behind which the shriek had originated, she kept her cannon raised and pointed dead ahead.

One of the two heavily armored doors hung awkwardly on busted hinges while the other was on the ground, deep claw marks running through it. Despite the damage, Samus could clearly make out the yellow letters marking it "XR-13".

With a deep breath, she steeled herself and stepped into the lab, as ready as she could be for what waited within. However, nothing could have prepared her for the absolutely massive beast she saw before her, perched on a high ledge and staring down at her through familiar amber eyes.

It had a crested head like a queen xenomorph, and most of its body was made of the same shiny black exoskeleton. Even its limbs and massive size reminded Samus of the Alien Queen she had fought on LV-426, but this creature was no mere xenomorph. On its back it had two massive sets of dragon wings, and it's long snout was filled with razor sharp teeth as its spear-headed tail whipped around behind it.

The hellish eyes of Ridley stared down at Samus from the xenomorph hybrid, and for a moment, she couldn't catch her breath as more forms began to appear from the dark shadowy corners of the deserted lab until there was a small army of glowing amber eyes all staring back at her.

 _Ridley…_ she thought to herself, her mind racing. _They crossed Ridley with the DNA of a Queen Xenomorph… What the hell is this Zero Host experiment?_


	31. Chapter 31: Bat Out of Hell

 

As Samus looked around the room, at least half a dozen amber eyes stared back at her from the darkness. She could feel her chest tightening and her pulse spiking as she stared into the all too familiar eyes of her lifelong nemesis. Ridley. Another clone of Ridley.

Only this time the clone was not merely the Space Dragon himself or a modified armored version of the beast. The Queen organism before her was the first of a new species, one that had apparently reproduced more rapidly than its creators could keep up with, condemning them all to death indirectly by their own hands.

Xeno-Ridley seemed like it almost recognized Samus as it stared down at her with its hungry eyes. Its smug viciousness was not that of the Space Pirate boss she had defeated repeatedly, but it was that of the monster that haunted her dreams and had laid waste to her childhood. It was a look of cockiness, the kind of look from an adversary that knows it has the upper hand.

And had Xeno-Ridley been alone, Samus would have scoffed at this concept, but there were three smaller Xeno-Dragons flanking it on each side, and each was easily twice the size of an adult xenomorph. The Fusion Suit was strong, but it was not quite as strong as her original power suit in terms of protecting her from damage. It also lacked the Xeno Suit upgrade she had acquired back on LV-426, and she was not sure how it would do against a xenomorph's concentrated acidic blood, which was far more corrosive than her own.

The Queen lowered its massive crested head and hissed at Samus, a glint of sadistic excitement dancing across its golden-amber eyes as it arched both sets of its leathery wings. The smaller dragons stepped forward quietly, their thirst for blood evident despite the moist carnage of the human scientists still staining their jaws.

The mercenary kept her cannon raised, knowing it was only a matter of time before one or all of the creatures attacked her, and she needed to make sure she got in a few good hits before that happened. Charging a shot, she leapt into the air as the six smaller dragons lunged at her. As they spread their wings, Samus fired off an ice diffusion missile.

The shot landed dead center in the face of one of the dragons as its frozen effects radiated outward, capturing the other five in its range. Samus didn't have time to stop and see how it affected them before somersaulting through the air and firing off a barrage of super missiles straight for the chest of Xeno Ridley. The Queen, however, was surprisingly agile, avoiding most of the missiles and shrieking as one hit its rear leg as it spread its massive wings and took off into the air.

The room they were in was absolutely massive, and the ceiling was higher than Samus could see in the dark. Landing catlike on one knee, the bounty hunter quickly leapt into the air again, using one wall to spring off of as she charged another ice missile shot and aimed for the outline of Xeno Ridley high above.

Unfortunately, she could not see if the missile hit before something rammed her from below. One of the charging dragons slammed the bounty hunter into a steal wall, leaving a sizable dent as Samus haphazardly fired plasma shots in its general direction. The small dragon screamed as plasma scorched its wing, jumping back and giving the hunter room to get her bearings.

She fired several missiles in a row into its back as she and the dragon fell to the floor. Only the dragon hit the ground with a sickening thud. Samus never made it far enough before something clamped down hard on her leg, dragging her straight back into the air. Pain running through her leg as a dragon's teeth crushed her armor, Samus began firing ice missiles at its face.

It let her go with a pained screech, but not before two other dragons were on her. One bit down on her opposite leg as another grabbed her left arm. Panic setting in as she realized she had no control over her body, Samus began firing wildly at the two dragons, but within seconds a third had her cannon arm in its jaws. It's strength overpowered hers as it pointed her cannon harmlessly away from the others.

The three dragons began pulling and thrashing their heads as Samus felt like she was being torn to pieces. As a fourth set of jaws clamped back down on her already injured leg, she feared she was being drawn and quartered. Unfortunately, she realized that was the least of her problems as a bright plume of flame erupted from the dark ceiling, heading directly for where the four dragons were trying to tear her limbs off.

There was nothing she could do as the bounty hunter took the full brunt of Xeno-Ridley's attack. The flames scorched her body as warnings flashed across her HUD. Samus screamed in absolute agony as her vision went dark and she could feel the teeth of one dragon breaking through the armor and sinking themselves into the meat of her left calf.

Desperate and unable to aim, Samus did the only thing she could think of as she charged another missile shot and fired the ice diffusion missile into the closest wall. It may not have directly hit any of the dragons, but its diffusion effects were enough to hurt them as she finally managed to break free long enough to let gravity take over and drop her body to the floor.

The ice also cut through the exposed flesh of Samus's wounded leg, leaving her momentarily unable to stand. Though the armor of the Fusion Suit was weaker than the power suit, it had an advantage in that the organic orange layer quickly grew and formed over the wound, protecting it from further damage.

Samus was panting heavily and her heart was racing as she lifted her body off of the ground. She felt like she was still on fire and each movement was another stab of pain through her. But that didn't stop her from getting to her feet as she raised her cannon arm again and began charging a missile. She couldn't put any weight on her left leg, but she only needed the strength of her right one to leap into the air, straight at three incoming dragons.

Even as the missile charged, she somersaulted into a screw attack, the electrical field forming like a buzz saw around her body and cutting through the dragons' path. Samus was done messing around. With all the force her Fusion Suit could muster, she flew into the air, one space jump after another as she screw attacked up to the dark heights where Xeno-Ridley was hiding. Uncurling her body and exiting the screw attack, Samus locked eyes with the queen beast just long enough to see another spray of fire erupting from its mouth as she released her fully charged ice missile.

Through the flames scorched Samus and threw her backwards, the missile flew directly between the great dragon's jaws and erupted into an icy explosion that expanded outward. As Samus fell toward the ground, four of the smaller dragons rushed her, attempting to retry their earlier efforts to tear her apart. But she was ready this time.

As the icy blast diffused from its impact site, it sprayed into the eyes of the approaching dragons, momentarily blinding them. Seizing the opportunity, Samus shot her grapple beam toward one of the dragons and used the momentum from her free fall to swing herself up to the one beside it. Before the dragon knew what hit it, the hunter was on its back, her legs wrapped around its throat as she rammed her arm cannon between its jaws and fired a charged plasma shot straight through its body.

A sickening death rattle sounded from the dragon's insides as Samus gripped its throat and watched as flickers of plasma sprayed from the exit wounds near its tail. Not wanting to leave the job unfinished, Samus fired a couple of ice missiles through its gaping maw before kicking off the corpse of the dead dragon and whirling into another screw attack.

Samus spun straight into another dragon as it lunged at her. The creature was clearly unaware of the screw attack's power as it threw itself with all of its might in the mercenary's direction. Within an instant, the dragon and the hunter collided, tearing into one another with lethal ferocity. The creature screamed as the spiraling electrical vortex cut clean through its forelimbs and one of its wings as it tried in vain to turn and escape. As it awkwardly flauntered on three wings, Samus broke out of her screw attack formation and shot her grapple beam toward its chest.

Charging a plasma shot, the mercenary pulled herself over to the flailing dragon and aimed directly at where its heart would be. It didn't have time to react as Samus's beam exploded clean through its body as its entrails and acidic blood sprayed out its back. The dead weight of the dragon carcass dropped toward the ground as

Samus kicked off of it, launching herself back into the air.

For a moment, she left herself vulnerable as she fell toward the floor. Seizing the opportunity, two of the smaller dragons rushed at her, shooting blasts of their fiery breath at the hunter as she dropped through the air. Samus grunted as she took a couple of direct hits from their fire attacks, but when the beasts were nearly on her, she rolled quickly into her morphball form and laid a powerbomb between them.

She had not noticed, however, a third dragon swooping in and coming at her from below. As she uncurled from her ball form, it lunged forward, taking her injured leg into its massive jaws as it jerked the hunter out of the air and threw her into a far wall. Samus hit the wall with the force of a car wreck and left a bounty hunter shaped indent as her limp form crumbled to the floor.

The three dragons were about to swoop down and finish their prey when the powerbomb finally detonated, catching all three of them in its blast radius. A cacophony of shrieks filled the room as two of the Xeno-Dragons were all but incinerated and one was left badly burned, the membranes of its wings singed clean off as it landed on the ground close to where Samus lay.

The bounty hunter slowly tried to stand, but the burned dragon was on her in an instant, throwing her onto her back as its claws cut into the thin armor of her torso. Warnings flashed on Samus's HUD as she struggled to move, but the dragon had her successfully pinned as it blew a blast of fire into her face.

Alarms blared in Samus's helmet as searing pain coursed through her. Her heart raced as she thought she might pass out from the intensity of the heat. For a second, she wondered if she even stood a chance of winning this fight.

But that thought didn't last long. She hadn't survived nearly forty years by doubting her abilities or laying down and giving in. As the dragon opened its mouth to finish her off with another flame attack, Samus wrenched her arm cannon free and shoved it in the creatures mouth, rapidly firing off ice super missiles as explosions rocked its already damaged form.

Using all of her strength, Samus managed to roll over to where she was now on top of the dragon as she continued to fire at it mercilessly until well after it was dead.

Shakily, the mercenary stood up, keeping her cannon raised as a plasma beam charged within it. She couldn't see anything but the bodies of five of the slain dragons at her feet, but she knew one Xeno-Dragon and the Queen, Xeno-Ridley, were still somewhere it the darkness toward the high ceiling. She found herself wishing the Federation had bothered to reverse engineer her X-ray and thermal visors and send them to her while she was on the B.S.L. Of course, she had no such luck.

Her energy reserves were dangerously low, and she had taken quite a beating, but she didn't hesitate before launching herself into another space jump screw attack and propelling herself up to the heights of the room. She didn't have to look for Xeno-Ridley long because the room was suddenly illuminated as a massive stream of flame erupted from the beast's mouth as it fired its attack at Samus.

The bounty hunter barely had time to dodge the flames before another stream came at her, this time singeing her as she failed to dodge in time. She realized what the dragon was doing as she space jumped away from another fiery blast. It knew it couldn't come in contact with her while she was using the screw attack, so it was attacking from a distance and trying to wear her down. And it was working, Samus had to admit as yet another fiery blast scorched her. She could not keep up with the speed of the dragon's rapid attacks, and she couldn't attack if she was stuck on the defensive.

Breaking her formation, the bounty hunter allowed herself to free fall for a second before shooting her grappling beam straight for Xeno-Ridley's massive form. She made contact, but grappling the creature left her totally open to attack as a cascade of flames rained down on her. Weak shrieks of agony escaped the mercenary's throat, but her beam held up even as she nearly passed out from the pain.

Even as the flames consumed her, Samus was charging another diffusion missile attack, and when the dragon's attack finally let up, she sent the fully charged ice super missile at its face followed by three more in rapid succession.

Xeno-Ridley screamed and flapped its wings wildly as the icy attack diffused and consumed its vision. Still dangling by a grappling beam, Samus was thrown about, slamming into walls as the Queen flew around erratically and tried to shake her. The hunter couldn't aim while being jerked around, but she had a plasma beam charging, waiting for the opportunity. Before she had a clear shot, however, the remaining Xeno-Dragon reappeared, biting down on her leg and tearing her and her grappling beam from the Queen's body.

It thrashed its head like a dog tearing apart its kill, blood running down Samus's broken armor as its jaws crushed her leg. With the armor pierced, she couldn't activate the morphball, but she had her beam fully charged and seized her first opportunity to blast the plasma shot into the dragon's face.

It yelped but didn't drop her. Its momentary disorientation, however, presented Samus with an opportunity, and she rapidly fired off a barrage of ice super missiles until the wounded creature let her go. Knowing she couldn't survive a two against one battle if she took much more damage, Samus rolled into a space jump as soon as the dragon dropped her. Within seconds, she entered a full screw attack and rammed with all of the force she could muster straight into the battered chest of the Xeno-Dragon. The intensity of the attack tore right through the dragon's body, splitting it in half as acidic blood rained over Samus and the two halves of the corpse fell and hit the ground, blood and entrails oozing out onto the ground.

Samus gasped as she took damage from the acid, but her own xenomorph blood provided some protection, and her suit remained intact. Lowering herself to the ground, she landed on one hand and knee and looked up to the heights where Xeno-Ridley hid. The organic orange layer once again grew over the punctures in her suit, but her left leg was mangled and nearly useless under the armor. It would be nearly impossible to stand.

Instead of trying to get up, Samus charged a plasma shot, looking up to the ceiling above in an attempt to spot Xeno-Ridley. As she fired off her attack, it illuminated the dark heights above. The beam came nowhere near hitting its mark, but the flash was just bright enough to show Xeno-Ridley heading down toward her in a dive bomb, front limbs outstretched to grab her.

Samus didn't hesitate as she sent a flurry of super missiles toward the incoming dragon. Every single one of them hit their mark, but Xeno-Ridley didn't slow down as it rushed Samus and scooped her up in its fore claws.

Both combatants knew this was the end, and both clung to life with a ruthless tenacity, each ignoring the pain of their own wounds as they concentrated fully on destroying the other. As it gripped her around the waste, Xeno-Ridley attempted to crush the bounty hunter to death even as she fired ice missiles into its face. Knowing better than to open its mouth for a flame attack, the dragon slammed Samus into a wall repeatedly before scraping her along it as it continued to crush her in its grasp.

Samus continued to fire missiles, but after a while, she pulled the trigger only to hear a hollow click. Her missile tanks were empty, and her chance for survival had been cut in half. Without missing a beat, she switched to firing plasma shots at the creature, but Xeno-Ridley let out a throaty sound like a laugh as it stared at the bounty hunter trapped helplessly in its claws. It knew she was barely barely holding onto the last of her strength as it continued to squeeze the life out of her.

With little effort, Xeno-Ridley trapped its exhausted adversary between the wall and its claws, forcing the arm cannon away from it as it stared Samus in the eyes.

Warnings flashed across the hunter's visor, and her vision was going dark as she saw Xeno-Ridley opening its massive jaws, ready to finish her off with one final flame attack.

But Samus didn't brace herself for death. She may not have been able to escape, and her arm cannon may have been trapped, but her left arm was free. Just as Xeno-Ridley was about to finish her, Samus seized the opportunity and shot her grappling beam into its throat. She still couldn't move, but she used the last of her strength to pull the dragon's head toward her even as the flames shot from its throat.

The way she pulled the creature from within threw it off just enough that she was able to use the grapple beam to pull her body through the onslaught of flames and into its mouth as she rolled into her morphball form and down its throat. Samus's energy was nearly down to zero, but she persisted anyway, laying a powerbomb in the belly of the beast and waiting the fateful three seconds until it exploded from within.

Xeno-Ridley let out a horrible shriek as it crashed to the ground and vomited out Samus along with the other scorched contents of it stomach. The hunter unrolled from her ball form, but she lay prone on the ground, her suit's power completely expended. The heavy armor now only served to weigh her down.

For a moment, the two combatants lay on the ground, side by side, staring at each other, each within the curtilage of death. Neither had the strength to move as acidic blood ran from mortal wounds, mingling in puddles between them.

But Samus's will finally won out over her body as she deactivated her power suit, revealing her sweat and blood soaked form as she weakly pulled herself toward Xeno-Ridley's form. For the last time, she locked eyes with those of her lifelong nemesis as she dragged herself to its body.

"Go to hell," she muttered between strangled breaths, "and fucking stay there this time."

Then, with a feral look in her eyes, the mercenary opened her mouth to reveal her fangs as she bit into her enemy's neck, draining the last of its life energy as she fed upon it.


	32. Chapter 32: Zero Host

 

 

 

As Samus finished draining the life force from Xeno-Ridley, she slumped beside its corpse. Now that the danger had passed, she gave in to her overwhelming exhaustion and the pain still coursing through her. Everything hurt, and she was afraid to look over to her mangled left leg to assess the damage. She knew it was substantial, and it would be a long time before she would be able to get to her feet again.

Feeding on the dragon's life energy had saved her from death, but just barely. It hadn't healed her copious wounds or renewed her will to fight. All it had done was stopped her from dying. For now. Without the ability to stand or use any of her suit's weapons, she was as good as dead if she ran into another hostile creature. And she knew better than to assume that she had killed off all of the xeno-dragons.

Slowly, the mercenary lowered her injured body to the ground and lay in a puddle of her own sweat and blood. The metal floor was cold, and it stung her. Her blue jumpsuit provided protection in the places that were not torn, and she knew it would soon regenerate over the areas where it was. All around her, steam was rising from where acid was burning into the floor, but she didn't care. For the moment, nothing was actively trying to kill her, and that was all that mattered.

She must have passed out because she woke up to the sounds of a creature approaching from the distance. It was moving stealthily, but her enhanced hearing had detected the sounds even in her sleep. Pain reminded her where she was as she slowly returned to consciousness. It was a bad time to be knocked out cold, and waking up with a foggy memory only served to make matters more difficult. All the mercenary could think to do was hide behind the corpse of Xeno-Ridley until she learned the identity of the creature approaching.

Her hand instinctively went to the emergency pistol on her belt, though she knew it wouldn't offer much protection. She was about to try activating her power suit again when she saw the other creature's form appear in the doorway through which she had originally entered. Suddenly, she felt a weight lift from her chest and relaxed slightly.

"Chance…" she tried calling out to him, but her voice was weak and wouldn't carry. He must have heard it anyway because his pointy ears twitched as he looked over to where she lay. Within moments he was by her side, looking in horror at the carnage around him as he carefully avoided any of the puddles of entrails or acidic blood.

"Samus," he whispered as he got closer and knelt beside her. He looked over the slain body of Xeno-Ridley, his eyes wide as he took in the size of the queen beast. "Samus, what happened?"

The bounty hunter looked up at him as she struggled to prop herself up on her arms. "Heh… I guess you could figure that out just by looking around the room."

His eyes traveled over her form, landing on her mangled left calf. The Metroid-like membranes had already formed to seal up the wounds and prevent her from bleeding out, but it still was not a pretty sight.

"S-Samus…" he whispered. "You're badly—"

"Save your breath, Chancey." She sighed. "I know my condition better than you do. I was the one in that battle." Looking over to her leg, she shook her head. "Just help me get up."

Chance remained frozen as he stared at the blood soaking through her blue jumpsuit. "That's not going to work…"

"Damn it, Chance!" The mercenary's face was pale from blood loss, but her tone conveyed the strength of her frustration. "We're here. The Host is here. We need to kill it. I have to do this! Do you not see the type of sick shit they are building here?"

The semi-human, however, still did not move. "Adam told me to come here. He said he had lost touch with you. Your suit's energy had hit zero. We thought…"

"Well I'm not dead," Samus snapped. "He had no right telling you to come here. Where's Elisa? Please tell me she and Calline aren't here…"

"Elisa and Calline are still back on the ship. They're safe." The lemur creature managed to force a smile. "Much safer than we are."

Samus nodded. "Good. They shouldn't even be here. You shouldn't be here…"

"Oh come on, Samus," he said with a small laugh. "Out of all the creatures in the galaxy that could have been coming in here just now, I know you're happy it was me."

"Only because I know you aren't trying to murder me." She frowned. "You should get out of here though. Just help me to my feet and get going. My suit should have recovered a little bit of juice by now. I should be able to walk…"

"Maybe," Chance replied. "Maybe you are that tough, and maybe your suit really is so high tech that you could walk around here even with your leg all shredded to bits. Maybe you don't need me at all. But Samus, I'm not leaving you. I don't care how tough you are. You're my friend, and you're hurt. You need all the strength you can get. I'm not leaving you behind. Not in your condition. Not to go into battle again so soon. Alone."

Slowly, the lemur-creature rolled up one of the sleeves of his jumpsuit and held a bare forearm out to Samus. The mercenary looked questioningly from his exposed skin to his face.

"Take it," Chance said quietly. "I know you have some kind of energy vampire power thing. Elisa told me."

"Chance, no."

"Stop," he said, surprisingly stern. "Samus, I didn't come here to rescue you or to tell you not to keep fighting. Adam and Elisa know you're too stubborn for that, but Elisa's worried. She's terrified. Adam told her he lost touch with you, and she started crying. She's scared out of her mind. I told you I would look out for her. That's what I'm doing right now. She needs you to come back in one piece, so I'm here offering you my energy so you can get up and keep fighting. And so you have a better chance of surviving those battles."

"You… actually want me to feed on your energy?"

Chance nodded. "I heal people, remember? If this is what I have to do to heal you, then yes. I want you to take my energy."

Samus tentatively reached for his forearm. Even though the jump suit covered her hands, she could feel his energy through its fibers. "I don't know the full extent of this power… I could really hurt you."

Chance smiled sadly. "That's the chance I've gotta take though, isn't it? You're the protector of the galaxy. You could do a lot more with my energy than I could, and right now you need your strength."

The mercenary closed her eyes and smiled as she wrapped her hand around the semi-human's wrist. "Thank you, Chancey. Thank you."

He smiled back at her, even as she began to draw his energy from him and her grasp tightened painfully around his wrist. Despite an overwhelming urge to pull away, Chance stayed still while Samus fed on his energy, even when he felt like collapsing from exhaustion. It was only once she was finished that he allowed himself to fall to the ground beside her. He felt completely drained as he lay panting next to the mercenary. After a moment, he looked over to see her slowly picking herself up until she was kneeling and looking down at him.

"H-hey, Samus," he said with a weak smile. "How are you feeling?"

The mercenary remained stoic as she looked him over. "Better."

The semi-human nodded as he closed his eyes. "That's… good…."

Samus's blank expression hardened into a frown. "Can you stand?"

Chance opened his eyes again and looked up at her. "I… I honestly doubt it. I'm okay. I'm just… exhausted. Kinda knocked the wind out of me."

The bounty hunter didn't say anything as she slowly got to her feet. It was obvious that her injured leg was still badly hurt and causing her a good deal of pain, but she was able to stand. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and activated her power suit. Within seconds, the orange and yellow armor covered her body, and as she stared at Chance through the green visor, she was glad to see that everything was functional and some of her energy tanks had been refilled.

"Thank you, Chancey," she said, kneeling down beside the exhausted lemur. With her armor fully functional, her movements were much more fluid and less painful. "Your energy really helped."

He smiled as he lay on his back and looked up at her. "Glad to hear it."

Samus nodded slowly. "If you can't walk, can you at least hold on enough for me to carry you on my back?"

"I can't do that. I really don't want to weigh you down."

Samus held up her hand and silenced him. "You helped me. I'm going to help you."

"But what if it slows you down or you get hurt because you're carrying me?"

The mercenary smiled under her helmet. "I guess that's a chance I've just got to take, right? Isn't that what friends do?"

"Heh." Chance smirked as Samus reached out her hand. He took it as Samus helped him get to his feet. Even though his legs still felt weak and wobbly, he was able to lean on her long enough to stand up and get onto her back. He wrapped his arms around the mercenary's neck and his legs around her chest. As an added precaution, he wrapped his tail around her waist. Though he was not sure he felt up to holding onto her, he was determined not to fall off and slow her down.

"Feel like you've got a good grip?" Samus asked as she looked forward to a door opposite the one from which Chance had entered.

"Yep," Chance replied as he rested against the back of Samus's shoulder. "I'm ready. Let's go find that Host!"

Samus grinned and set off toward the door, Chance clinging to her as she walked. Her movements were still painful and stiffer than usual, but she didn't care. She was just thankful her companion had come along when he did and had been kind enough to offer her his energy even though the act had left him exhausted.

Her gratitude ran deep, deeper than Chance could have ever known. So many people and creatures had sacrificed themselves to save her over the years. Adam had only been the most recent in a long line of beings who had laid down their lives to protect her, beginning with her mother all of those years back on K-2L. Samus didn't take any of those lives for granted. They were the only reason she was still alive despite thousands of reasons why she should not have been. The least she could do to honor the sacrifices of all those who had helped her was to continue forward in her role as the galaxy's protector. It was what drove her forward despite the searing pain shooting through her with each step.

As Samus walked out into the corridor, she was met with a sight similar to what she had seen in other parts of the ship. Dead bodies lined the floor, some half eaten as blood pooled around them. Only now more of the blood was dry, giving Samus an idea of how long they had been dead. It was no mystery to her how the xeno-dragons had escaped; such a powerful and intelligent species would make short work of that. What bothered her was why the scientists had thought such a creature was a good idea to begin with. Then again, this was the same team of researchers who had attempted to capture the SA-X.

 _Xenomorph, Metroid,_ Samus thought as she walked through the carnage. _A psychic species, a space dragon…_

As she thought about the creatures she had just faced, her mind also wandered to the xenotroids on the Bottle Ship and to Calline's abilities.

 _Each one of these traits came from the Host,_ she mused as she came to a heavy set of double doors.

The hunter paused, and even Chance looked up from her shoulder as the two of them stared at the thick metal doors. There were warnings plastered all around them, and bright yellow lines horizontally bisected them. Dim red lights flashed and faint alarms sounded as the hunter stood before them. Emblazoned on the doors in big letters were the words:

ZERO LAB

WARNING:

NO ENTRY WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION

Samus felt the knot in her stomach tighten as she stared at the words painted on the doors. It felt surreal, as though she could not possibly be here now. For the past two years, she had hunted for any information on the Zero Host, and now she stood before this lab, and all those who would try to stop her were long dead at the hands of their own creations. It was too easy.

As she thought back to her battle with Xeno-Ridley and then even further back to her battle with Ridley's clone on the BSL, a very disturbing idea pushed itself to the forefront of her mind. It had been building in the background for a long time now, ever since she had met Calline, but she did her best to ignore it still. She'd have her answers soon enough, and there was no need to speculate about it any further.

With barely the bat of an eye, Samus fired a super missile into the double doors, blowing them clean off of their hinges. The twisted metal of the doors clattered to the metal ground with an echoing thud, and Samus slowly walked through the entrance of the Zero Lab, careful to avoid stepping on the remains of the door that now littered the ground.

To her surprise, there was no blood on the ground in this lab. Xeno-Ridley and its offspring must not have gotten in before she arrived. It struck her as strange that they would avoid this lab of all places given that they had clearly been able to get through similar sets of doors elsewhere on the ship.

As she walked with Chance on her back, lights flickered overhead, their sickly fluorescent glow giving the lab an eerie, haunted feeling. Neither the bounty hunter nor the lemur said anything as they both silently wondered where the other specimens were. They did not have to wonder long because as they went through a smaller door to a second room, they could hear various noises, like caged creatures calling out to them in animalistic tongues. Samus found the sounds particularly chilling; they were all familiar to her in some capacity.

On their right, they saw a glass containment cell with the first of what Samus supposed were the Host's derivative creatures. It was a small creature, and it almost resembled a bald primate as it stared up at them, but the creature was clearly not a primate. A jet-black exoskeleton covered its form as it stared at Samus and Chance with hungry yellow-green eyes. It had a beak that looked too large for its malformed face as it hissed at them.

A dark feeling of disgust coming over her, Samus looked away from the hideous creature. She had never thought of herself as much of a genetic purist, but there was something so wrong about seeing the unnatural creature with all of its mismatched parts. It was an abomination, and the longer she stared at it, she more she wanted to destroy it.

Traversing the lab was as frighteningly mesmerizing as walking through the fresh debris of a horrific crash. Samus could not take her eyes off of the flickering computer screens on the walls or the containment units they surrounded. As she tried to put distance between herself and the first creature, Samus found herself face to face with another experiment, and though she had not thought it possible, this one was far more disturbing than the last.

A humanoid body stood in the cell, almost the same height as Samus. Gray-ish brown feathers covered its body, but its shape was very distinctly human. The only thing that threw it off was the shape of its arms. Long and gangly, they looked like they belonged on a xenomorph. They were too large and jutted out awkwardly from warped shoulders as bones looked like they were bent painfully in the wrong direction. Samus grimaced and took a step back as she accidently looked into its black, soulless eyes and it stared into her. It opened its mouth as though to speak, but instead it revealed toothless gums with only two sets of fangs poking through. As it stared at Samus, it let out the most horrible squawking scream, like a bird being strangled.

Chance felt the bounty hunter's body stiffen beneath him and was about to ask her what was wrong when he saw her wave beam shoot through the glass of the cell without shattering it, passing right through the creature's body as it dropped to the ground, instantly dead. He stared in horror, not sure what to say as Samus remained rigid and still for a long time.

"What," he asked after a few moments. "W-what was that? Why did you kill it?"

Samus hesitated a moment as she stared at the crumpled corpse of the horrific creature. "It asked me to."

"What?" Chance stared at her in disbelief. "It was just making weird squawking noises. How did it…?"

Samus didn't say anything as she shook her head and continued on to the next room. The thoughts from early came back into the forefront of her mind, and she could no longer ignore them as she thought about the feathered humanoid and how it had begged her for death only moments ago, a death she was all too wiling to bring to it.

Other creatures made noises, but she ignored the other deformed beasts. Only when she came to a tall tank full of infant Metroids did she pause, but it was only for a minute before she shook her head and continued on her way. She had expected to find Metroids.

A fourth room had a series of dead creatures laid out on exam tables. One was partially cut open as though someone had been in the middle of performing a post-mortem when the alarms had gone off. It was a long, tall bird-like creature, and looking at it made Samus sick to her stomach. It was too familiar. Everything was too familiar.

She felt almost as though she were watching everything play out in a movie around her, as though she was seeing some other bounty hunter exploring the restricted lab and all of its familiar-but-horribly-wrong creatures.

 _Xenomorph, Metroid, psychic creature,_ she thought as she walked into the fifth room, bracing herself for what she would find in the rest of the lab. _Xenomorph, Metroid, psychic creatures with beaks and feathers. The blood of Ridley. The blood of the Chozo… The Zero Host. The most powerful bioweapon ever created, an amalgam of powerful creatures with the ability to take on the genetic traits of those it absorbs._

Her breaths came and went, but other than that it was as though she had no control over her body. She felt as though she were gliding through the lab now, like her legs were non-existent as she watched everything unfold around her. It couldn't have been real, and yet, it was.

As she looked through the room in which she found herself, she noticed a small door off to the side. It was not like anything in any of the other rooms she had seen, and written across it in big yellow letters was the word "CONTROL."

Samus braced herself, not knowing what she was going to see but knowing she wasn't going to like it.

As she opened the door and stepped inside, she saw an unmade infirmary bed and heard the sound of a woman gasping. Walking into the room, Samus and Chance found themselves staring at a tall but slender young woman. Her skin was pale and unblemished, and her form was soft and thin. Long blonde hair fell midway down her back, and she was dressed in only a white cotton hospital gown. Her blue eyes scanned the intruders nervously as she took a step back and put her arms out in front of herself.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted in a voice that was surprisingly deep but still obviously female.

"Samus," Chance said as he looked at the woman in disbelief and slid off of the bounty hunter's back. He took a couple of steps forward before looking at the woman and then back at Samus's armored form. "She… she looks like you. Or how you would look, I guess, if you were human?"

Samus didn't say anything as she stepped forward and deactivated her power suit. It was true. She and the woman might have been identical twins except that this woman was clearly softer, lacking Samus's muscle mass, and she had no scars anywhere on her body. There was nothing about her that suggested she was anything other than human, and she recoiled from the bounty hunter's approach even without the armor.

"Stay away from me!" the woman shouted again in a voice that Chance now recognized as eerily similar to Samus's. "W-what are you? Who are you?"

Samus stopped a few feet away as she looked at her clone, a clone of what she would have looked like if she had been allowed to grow up into a fully human woman who had never seen the horrors of battle. For the first time since entering the lab, she felt something other than disgust or pity for these creatures that had contained her genetic material, the genetic material of the creatures that made up her own body now. The blood of the Chozo, the xenomorphs, the Metroids, and now the material of the host creatures of every X parasite she had managed to absorb on the BSL. And last but not least, her human DNA that had been taken and used to recreate the woman before her, the woman she might have been.

"Who are you?" the woman yelled again as she backed into a corner and sank to the ground. Her breathing was fast as tears streamed from her eyes. Her terror was palpable as she stared up at the bounty hunter.

Samus looked down at her, suddenly feeling like a dense fog had lifted and everything was clear now. She knew. She understood now as she knelt down before the woman to answer her.

"I'm the Zero Host," Samus replied.


	33. Chapter 33: Ruth

"You're the… what?" The woman looked up at Samus from where she crouched in the corner. Her eyes were still wide with fear as she stared at the bounty hunter in confusion.

"I'm the Zero Host," Samus repeated. "I'm the one whose genetic material they've been using to build bioweapons all along."

"I… I don't know what that means." The woman still had her hands raised as though she expected Samus to strike her at any moment.

"Samus?" Chance asked as he took a few steps toward the two women. "What are you talking about? How could you be the Zero Host? Isn't that the thing we're trying to kill?"

Samus looked back at him, her expression blank and unreadable. "Project Zero, the weapons the Federation Force troopers carried, Calline's powers, the xenomorph Ridley… everything. Even the Metroids now. They're all parts of me. Parts the Federation took and cloned. They never wanted to take my powers and make me part of the Zero Host. They wanted the ultimate bioweapon, but they wanted it in neat little pieces they could harness and use."

"P-please," the woman said in a voice eerily similar to Samus's, "s-somebody please tell me what's going on…"

"Samus," Chance continued, momentarily ignoring the other woman's plea. "That can't be right. Calline is psychic. You're not."

The bounty hunter's expression remained unchanged. "The Chozo were, and their blood runs through my veins. I must carry that trait somewhere even if it isn't active. Calline is a human-Chozo-xenomorph hybrid. Just as I was before the Metroid vaccine."

"Look," the woman tried again, "I don't know what a Chozo or a Zero Host is, but please, someone tell me what is going on…"

Samus finally looked over to the woman, finally seeming to notice her again. "I don't understand what your purpose is though. The others… I get the point of making bioweapons. Even the xeno-dragons made sense in their own way. You though…"

Samus crouched down in front of the woman so they were face to face as she ran a clawed hand across the woman's cheek, drawing a few drops of blood in the process.

"What they hell are you supposed to be?" Samus asked. Her voice was hollow and distant. She spoke to the blonde woman with a level of detachment that made Chance's hair stand on end. "Are you some kind of toy for them?"

The human clone put a hand gently to the cut on her face. Her blood lacked any acidity and appeared just as human as the rest of her.

"I…" she began, breathing more quickly but speaking calmly. "I don't know what my purpose is. I've never thought about it."

The bounty hunter frowned. "What are your powers then?"

The clone shook her head. "I don't think I have any powers. I'm just here."

Samus's frown deepened, and without warning, she lashed out at the blonde woman, slashing her across her upper arm with her claws. The clone yelled out and fell to the ground. She was bleeding and crying, trembling as she looked up at Samus with fear in her eyes.

"Woah! Samus!" Chance quickly jumped between the bounty hunter and her clone, holding his arms out as though to block Samus from striking her again. "Not cool! What did you do that for? Can't you see she's terrified of you?"

"I had to know how she would respond," the bounty hunter replied. Her tone was irritated as her eyes looked past Chance to where her clone now lay on the ground sobbing and clutching her arm. "If she was hiding any kind of power, I needed to know. But it looks like she wasn't. She's just a human woman."

"That doesn't make any sense." Chance relaxed his stance as he looked from Samus to the other woman and back up to Samus. "I mean, yeah, she looks like you if you were fully human, but why make a human clone?"

Samus shook her head. "Probably that sicko Renpo or one of his lackeys got off on the idea of having a version of me that they could order around and have her do _anything_ they wanted. A frightened, helpless little mouse."

Chance watched Samus stare at the trembling, sobbing woman on the floor, and he realized the look in her eyes was one of disgust. She looked down on this woman, on her own human side.

The lemur creature turned to the woman and kneeled beside her, running a hand down her back.

"It's okay," he said as she looked up at him. "I know Samus can be a little rough around the edges, but she had to make sure you weren't a monster trying to hurt us. We know now. You're human, right? What's your name?"

She looked confused but less frightened as she stared at Chance. "I guess I'm human. I never realized there was anything else…"

"And your name?" he asked again.

"I don't know if I have a name, not my own anyway." She looked like she was trying to remember something just outside the limits of her memory but quickly abandoned the effort.

"It's ok," he continued, running his hand down her back again. "When people come in here, what do they call you?"

"They… they call me Samus."

The bounty hunter made a snort of disgust and Chance shot a look at her.

"They all call you that?" the lemur asked.

The woman shook her head. "No… there is one person. She's nicer than the others. She doesn't like calling me by someone else's name. So she calls me something different. She calls me Ruth."

"Ruth?" Chance repeated. "Can we call you Ruth?"

The woman nodded. "Yes. I like that name."

Samus scoffed as the other two turned to look at her. The bounty hunter stared back, a look seething hatred in her eyes as she stared at Ruth.

"Don't get too attached, Chance," she said in her deep voice. "This isn't a person. It's a fucking bioweapon. A damn clone. It needs to be destroyed."

Ruth's eyes grew wide with terror as Chance pushed her back and stepped between her and Samus. He stretched his arms out as though trying to use his body as a barrier to protect the human woman.

"Samus!" he shouted, his fur standing on end as he stared at the bounty hunter. "How can you even think something like that? Ruth never did anything to you! She's a victim of the Federation's perversion! We need to rescue her."

"Rescue her?" Samus asked as she reached for the gun holstered to her hip. "You're suggesting I let this thing onto my ship with my wife and a young girl? No, it's one of them, part of this whole Zero shit. We came here to shut that shit down, and that never involved letting any of the Host's derivatives live."

Chance scowled and glared at Samus. "We came here to kill the Zero Host too, or did you forget that? Plans change. We have new information to work with."

Pulling the gun from it's holster, Samus raised it an pointed it over Chance's shoulder to where Ruth stood huddled against a wall and breathing quickly.

"Plans haven't changed that much," Samus said flatly. "If galactic peace requires me to destroy the Zero Host so it can't be cloned anymore, then that's what I'll do. Don't stand in my way. Not then and not now."

"Samus!" Chance shouted. "Listen to yourself! You're proposing we _murder_ this woman because you don't like that she's a clone of you? Even though she doesn't have any powers? And killing yourself so the Federation can't clone you? That's insane!"

"Chance, get out of my way."

"No," the lemur insisted, digging in his heels and refusing to budge from his defensive position in front of Ruth. "This isn't some Metroid or deformed bird creature begging for death. This is a real live human woman who's scared for her life. Maybe she wasn't made like a normal human, but that doesn't mean you have to shoot her. How are you any better than the Federation? Or purist cults? Or even the fucking Space Pirates for that matter if you kill a terrified and helpless woman?"

Samus paused but didn't lower her gun. "We don't know that she's actually helpless, Chance. Don't you realize the Feds have been playing us all along? I've been on a wild goose chase for this fucking Host thing, and it was me all along? Does this place not reek of a trap to you? They've haven't just been a step or two ahead of use, Chancey, they've been running an entirely different fucking race. And for all we know she's bait for something and—"

"Bait for what?"

"I don't know!" Samus growled, her tone and demeanor shifting so suddenly it earned a strangled, frightened gasp from Ruth. "I don't have any fucking idea!" Her eyes were wild, and her gun remained trained on Ruth. "Everything! Everything from Adam's death to the BSL to being here, all of it has been some elaborate ruse to get me to do something illegal or kill someone or destroy something without realizing it. Nothing I do… I can't get away from them, whoever they are. They know my every move before I do, and I'm not smart like Adam was… I'm a fighter, but I'm not a strategist like this. I don't know what I'm doing anymore!"

Chance lowered his arms slowly, and his face softened. "I get that, Samus. But killing Ruth doesn't mean you're breaking the mold of what the Feds think you're going to do. We can't figure out Ruth's purpose, but seeing her obviously upset you. Maybe that's what they wanted. For you to kill her."

Samus finally took her eyes off of Ruth as she looked over to Chance. "I guess that's possible. But why would they want me to kill her?"

"I don't know." The lemur shook his head. "But given the way you responded to seeing her, I think they knew you would want to kill her.

Samus sighed. She kept the gun pointed at the other woman but she relaxed her stance. "You're right. They're baiting me to kill her. If nothing else, that's why they would have a useless clone that looks like me."

"P-please," Ruth said, looking up at Samus in terror. "P-please go away and leave me alone. I'm not hurting anyone. I-I'm scared!"

Chance turned around and smiled at Ruth. "It's going to be okay. Really. We're going to rescue you and get you out of here so the Federation can't hurt you anymore."

The woman glared at Chance. "I don't want to go anywhere! I want to stay here! No one was hurting me until you brought that psychopath in here and she started attacking me!"

Chance shook his head. "No, Ruth. It's not like that. I know we got off to a bad start, but you need to know Samus and I are actually the good guys, and we want to help you."

Ruth raised an eyebrow, looking remarkably like Samus in that moment. "She is literally _pointing a gun at me_. How do you expect me to believe you're the good guys? Especially after the way she killed all those people on that space station?"

"Space station?" Samus asked, finally lowering her gun as she stared curiously at Ruth. "When did I kill people on a space station?"

"Biologic Space Labs," Ruth replied.

"Um… no." Samus shook her head. "I destroyed the BSL but there weren't any people on it. Just Metroids and X-parasites."

Ruth frowned. "I know you're lying. I saw the video footage. Your armor was a little different, but it was you."

Samus was silent for a moment as she stared at her clone. Her mind was racing with possibilities as to what Ruth had seen, but she had a pretty good idea what it was. "Okay, let's make a deal. How about you show me that video footage, and let me figure out what's going on. Then I'll tell you what you're really seeing and you can decide if you believe me or not. If you still don't want us to rescue you, I'll let you go."

The woman stared at Samus skeptically. "You're not giving me a choice. You're going to make me show you the footage at gunpoint. I'm human, but I'm not an idiot."

"No," Samus replied, her tone grim. "Unfortunately I guess you're not."

Ruth looked nervous as she stared at the hunter, but eventually she nodded. "I'll show you where I saw the footage, but then I want you to let me go."

Samus's face remained blank. "Take us there."

Chance looked between the two women in confusion as they glowered at each other. He was surprised when Ruth finally stepped out from behind him and began walking toward the door as she beckoned for him and Samus to follow.

Samus reactivated her powersuit as she turned to follow her clone out the door, and Ruth recoiled at first when she stepped into the dark corridor. There may not have been any bodies near her, but the air still reeked of death and blood stained the ground where Samus's boots had stepped. Ruth took a deep breath before stepping out and leading the group toward their destination. She took them past her room and out to a long corridor. She was distraught by how eerie the ship was now.

Samus was certain the clone thought she and Chance had killed everyone onboard before finding her. She tried not to let it bother her as she followed Ruth through a series of labs and hallways, keeping her cannon raised and ready all the while. She wondered how much Ruth had been out of her room before the ship had been attacked and if she was actually leading them where she said she was. Samus was expecting to end up in another trap and kept her senses on high alert.

When at last they reached a small room, Ruth led them inside and closed the door behind her before making her way over to a small series of screens.

"It's this one," the clone said, keying in a few codes in a control panel beside the holoscreens. They flickered a few times but finally came to life, and Samus's eyes widened at the sight.

The footage was definitely from the BSL. It showed Biologic's scientists working in their labs, but after a few seconds of footage, there was an explosion followed by the sounds of screaming. People began trying to run from whatever was approaching them, but ice beam shots and missiles rang out, slaughtering all of them. Samus felt her chest tighten and a cold sweat break out as the attacker walked into view, clad in her golden-orange Varia Suit.

"That's not me," Samus said quietly, her throat dry and her pulse rising quickly at the image on the screen. "Look."

She pointed at the screen as the doppelgänger turned and looked into the camera with its pupil-less eyes. Even though the creature was long dead, the sight of its empty face still made Samus's heart race.

"Those aren't my eyes," the bounty hunter continued. "That's the SA-X. That's why the armor looks different. It was an X parasite clone of me wearing a fully intact version of my armor."

"Another clone?" Ruth asked, looking Samus's Fusion suit up and down before turning to look back at the footage of the SA-X killing more scientists in different rooms. "They said this was the real Samus Aran. That's what they told those bounty hunter and military guys. That you were a criminal and a traitor, and these were your crimes."

Samus felt a pit forming in her stomach as she realized that the Federation had been playing footage of the SA-X as propaganda to convince the galaxy that she was truly as treasonous as they claimed. Fewer people would question the bounty on her head after watching her slaughter an entire space station with their own eyes. That was why the bounty hunter who had been after Calline had not recognized who she was; he had only seen the SA-X footage and old pictures of her.

The wheels were turning quickly in Samus's head. If the Federation had released this video footage to the other bounty hunters and the military, they had never intended for any of them to catch her in the first place. Rather than hire people to hunt her down, they had set out a lure for her and Adam to follow right to this very ship. Only they had not counted on Xeno-Ridley and its offspring killing off everyone onboard.

"We need to go," Samus said suddenly, turning to face Chance.

"I'm not leaving!" Ruth shouted.

"Don't be an idiot," Samus snapped at the woman. "Don't you realize you're just a stupid pawn to them?"

"I know none of the scientists here ever put a gun to my head!"

The bounty hunter shook her head. "Fine. Stay. Die. Whatever. Chance and I need to get out of here because this place is either a trap or a red fucking herring."

"Samus," the lemur pleaded, grabbing her left hand. "We can't leave Ruth here to die!"

Samus pulled her hand free, shaking her head. "I don't have time for this. If she doesn't want to come with us, I'm not going to force her. She's making her own choice now."

"It doesn't matter if I come or I don't come," Ruth replied, her voice eerily detached and hollow. "She's planning to blow up this ship anyway. Because that's what you always do, right Samus? Kill everything in your wake?"

"Samus?" Chance asked, looking at the bounty hunter with wide eyes. "Are you planning to blow up this ship with Ruth still on it?"

Samus shot him a look. "She has the option of coming with us, but you know as well as I do what we came here to do. I can't risk having the creatures here, creatures made from my genetic coding, be used as weapons of war by the Federation."

Chance's pale face grew even paler as he looked back and forth between Samus and Ruth. "But we can't just kill Ruth… she never did anything to hurt anyone."

"It's okay, Chance," Ruth replied calmly. "I won't be the first clone of herself she's killed. She's made that clear."

"She chose the Federation, Chance," Samus said, her deep voice taking on a soft but authoritative tone. "She's still choosing the Federation."

"I…" Chance's eyes were wide as he looked up at Samus. "I… I'm staying with Ruth."

"What?" Samus felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. "Chancey, you can't be serious!"

"I am serious," he replied. "If you want to blow up the ship and kill Ruth, you'll have to kill me too. If you think she's an abomination because she was born in an unnatural way, then you think I'm one too because look at me… I look like the bastard offspring of a human and a monkey."

Samus sighed. "I don't have a problem with how Ruth was born. Just why they made her."

"That wasn't up to her!" he demanded. "She didn't have any choice in that! You can't just kill her because of something her parents did!"

Samus grunted in annoyance. She turned to Ruth with an angry huff before striding up to the woman and scooping her off the ground with one arm. The clone protested and tried beating he fists against Samus's armor as the bounty hunter slung her body over one shoulder.

"Happy now?" Samus asked, looking at Chance. "We can get out of here without anymore issues?"

Chance still looked hesitant, but he nodded. When Samus turned and led the way out the door, he followed and watched Ruth continue to try to free herself from the mercenary's hold. Samus led them both through the same corridors through which they had come, moving much more quickly than she had the first time and keeping her cannon raised for any signs of danger. They all but ran back toward the ship, and they probably would have actually run if Chance had not still been so exhausted from having Samus feed off of his energy.

They were well past where they had found Ruth and were getting closer to the room where Samus had fought the xeno-dragons when they heard a sudden screeching sound. With lightning fast reflexes, Samus jumped to the side, pushing Chance out of the way as a massive figure dive-bombed where they had been walking only a moment ago.

Chance was barely aware of what was happening and did not have time to process as he found himself and Ruth huddling next to a wall as Samus sprang into action against their attacker.

Charging up a plasma blast, Samus ran toward the xeno-dragon. She wondered briefly if it had been the same creature she had watched emerge from the chest of the dead scientist when she had first come aboard the _Aracdia_ , but she didn't focus on that long. Instead, she dodged a sudden blast of fire from the xeno-dragon's mouth. Aiming directly at its face, she fired off her charged plasma blast, cursing the fact that she was out of diffusion missiles.

The beast screamed as the plasma scorched its face.

"Run!" Samus called out to Chance and Ruth as the dragon recovered and lunged at her, snapping its jaws a bit too close for comfort. "I'll hold it off while you get out of here!"

Chance's eyes were wide as he looked up at her, but he nodded as he took Ruth's hand and ran with her back in the direction of the ship. The dragon tried to pivot and go after them, but Samus rammed it with a screw attack right into the side of its jaw. As she came out of formation and got ready to fire another plasma shot, it lashed out at her with one of its long forelimbs, slamming into her full force and throwing her into a wall.

Samus hit the wall with enough force to dent it as she fell to the ground and alarm bells blared in her ears. She may have gotten enough energy from Chance to get up and walk around, but she was still weak and injured from her last battle. She couldn't get to her feet in time before the dragon reached forward and grabbed her with one of the massive clawed hands on its forelimb. Samus struggled against its grasp, but it slammed her into a wall and dragged her along it before flinging her to the ground.

Struggling to get to her feet, the bounty hunter charged up another plasma shot, and right as the dragon lunged at her, she shot it in the face again. The creature reared up and screamed as the bounty hunter leapt into the air, already charging another blast.

She never got the chance to fire that plasma shot, however, because at the same moment that she leapt toward the dragon, a different shot was heading toward her. Too focused on the dragon until it was too late, Samus did not have time to dodge as the green and blue electrical beam shot her straight through the chest. An unbearable level of pain ripped through her, and she screamed as the force of the attack threw her into the far wall.

Her body collided with the wall with a sickening snap before she fell to the ground. Only this time, she did not have her powersuit's armor to protect her, and her already injured body took the full impact of the hit. Pain stabbed her from all sides as she lay bleeding on the cold metal ground.

She could not reactivate her powersuit, and the edges of her vision were starting to go black. She did not know where the green and blue shot had come from, and the pain was so intense she could not focus her eyes enough to look around. All she could do was stare helplessly up at the dragon as it stood over her and spread its grotesque wings to their full span. The golden-amber eyes from her nightmares stared down at her as the xeno-dragon made a throaty sound that almost resembled a laugh.


	34. You Better Run

"Run!" Samus called out to Chance and Ruth as the dragon recovered and lunged at her, snapping its jaws a bit too close for comfort. "I'll hold it off while you get out of here!"

Ruth stared up as the bounty hunter continued to fight the xeno-dragon. She had never seen anything like it in her short life. The winged beast was massive and grotesque, but Samus was like a small army all by herself with an impressive display of weaponry. Ruth wanted to get closer and watch as the battle unfolded, but she was quickly snapped out of her daze as Chance grabbed her hand and began to pull her toward the door.

Ruth barely had time to catch her breath as they ran into the next room. The metal ground was cold on her bare feet, which were now stained with blood from walking through the slaughter of the previous corridors. The stench of death was in the air, something she had never smelled before, and she could not even process what was happening as she ran after Chance. He seemed intent on getting them as far from the battle as possible, and he didn't slow down until they were several rooms away from where Samus was fighting the dragon.

"H-hey," the lemur creature panted as he turned to look back at Ruth. "Are you all right?"

However, Ruth just stared back at him, still confused by his large golden eyes and pointed ears. And his tail. His tail was particularly disconcerting to the human woman.

"Ruth?" he asked, a look of concern coming over his face.

"You opposed her," the woman said at last, "to save me. You wouldn't let her kill me. You opposed her even though you are nothing compared to her power."

Chance looked confused for a moment as the two of them stood in the dark metallic corridor. Dried human blood caked their feet as they stared at one another.

"I just didn't want her to hurt you," Chance replied with an uncharacteristic caution in his tone. "Samus isn't a bad person. She'd never want to hurt an innocent, no matter what species they are. She's just scared I guess."

"Scared?"

The lemur nodded as he felt the hair on his tail slowly rising up. Something in him sensed danger, and he knew it wasn't coming from the dragon. "Yeah… she wasn't expecting to come here and find out that she was the Zero Host, and she's had a lot of problems with clones in the past. They tend to try to kill her."

Ruth raised an eyebrow as she stared at Chance. "You're… actually kind of nice. You deserve better than to be pushed around by someone like her."

"Pushed around?" Chance asked with a laugh. "Oh no, you've got it all wrong. I—"

He never got to finish his sentence as Ruth's eyes began to glow a brighter blue and he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He gasped as he stared at Ruth in shock.

"You don't deserve to die," Ruth said. "Get out of here, Chance. Nothing good will be happening from here on out."

"RUTH?" he yelled as he felt himself being lifted higher by her telekinetic hold. He tried to struggle against it, but it was all in vain as he began flying through the air and straight out through one of the doors on the far end of the room.

As soon as he was out of sight, Ruth relaxed and took a deep breath before once again activating her power. With a wave of her hand, she concentrated her energy on the heavy steal doors between herself and Chance, slamming and sealing them together so there was no way for the lemur to get back in.

Now her objective was clear.

She had meant it when she said she did not want to hurt Chance. He was a strange creature, one she had never seen before, but the lab had always been home to various strange creatures. He closely resembled a human but not quite. Humans, in her experience, were neither quite so kind nor quite so stupid as to put themselves between her and a bona fide killing machine like Samus Aran. She didn't understand his loyalty to her.

Ruth could feel her hands trembling as she turned and walked back to where they had left Samus fighting the xeno-dragon. The XR-13 species was one she had never met up close and personal, but she remembered the scientists on the _Arcadia_ talking about it at length. They had been so proud of what they had created.

And now as Ruth walked back through the desolate halls, those same scientists lay dead at her feet.

The closest thing she had ever had to a family was gone, and their beloved creation was under attack. Ruth didn't know where the sudden surge of confidence had come from, but she knew she had to do something to protect the xeno-dragon, lest it meet the same fate as the humans onboard this craft.

Recalling a lesson from her favorite human, the one who she thought of as "Mama", Ruth stopped in one of the rooms between her and Samus. There was a cabinet in one of the corners, and it was as unremarkable as it was useful. Sliding open one of the drawers, Ruth revealed a palm scanner and pressed her right hand up to its surface. Mama had told her once that if there was ever an emergency or she ever ran across the Zero Host, then contents of this cabinet would help her deal with the problem.

As the palm scanner glowed green and beeped its confirmation, the top drawer closed, and the bottom drawer slowly opened. Hands still shaking with adrenaline and anxiety, Ruth reached into the bottom drawer and pulled out a long silver pistol. She knew exactly what to do with this, having seen it simulated several times in her training.

Quickly, Ruth turned and ran as fast as her thin legs would carry her toward where Samus would be.

She walked in to see an encouraging sight: the xeno-dragon seemed to have gained the upper hand and was crushing the armored intruder against a wall before flinging her away. As Samus's body crashed to the ground, Ruth could see the bounty hunter's pained struggle as she tried to get to her feet.

She thought for a second that maybe the dragon would finish her off, but before she could even take a breath, Samus had managed to shoot a charged blast of plasma into the dragon's face. As the great beast reared back in pain, Ruth knew what she had to do and mustered up all of her will to hold the gun steady and point it at the hunter's chest.

She could see Samus was already charging another plasma beam shot as she leapt up into the air to charge at the dragon. The bounty hunter was about to fire her plasma blast, but Ruth shot first, aiming straight for Samus's heart.

A blast of green and blue energy exploded from Ruth's pistol, striking Samus dead in the chest. Her armor began to falter and seemed to dissipate into nothing as Samus's unprotected body flew through the air and struck the far wall with a sickening crack. The bounty hunter's body tumbled to the ground where she lay broken and bleeding at the mercy of the xeno-dragon.

Ruth gasped as she heard the xeno-dragon laughing overhead. It stared down at Samus with a voracious hunger in its eyes, and Ruth looked to where the bounty hunter lay so still that Ruth wondered if she were still alive. Before she could get close enough to check, a powerful blast of flame erupted from the dragon's mouth. The flames seemed to explode as they crashed into Samus's crumpled form, and Ruth held her hands up to her face in a useless attempt to shield herself from the searing heat that radiated from the attack.

As the last of the fiery wisps died out, Ruth lowered her hands and looked to where the attack had hit. Slowly, she began walking toward where Samus had been. The xeno-dragon looked like it was ready to gobble up its defeated prey, but Ruth held a hand up to tell it to stop and the dragon froze.

Samus's body lay in a bloody mess on the floor, battered and burned. Ruth was certain the bounty hunter was dead until she saw her chest move ever so slightly and heard her shallow breathing.

"You're alive?" Ruth asked, not expecting a response. She knelt down next to the unconscious mercenary and grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. She pulled her hand back immediately, though, as a few drops of Samus's blood burned her fingers. "How could you still be alive after that?"

A sudden burst of rage filling her, Ruth stood up and kicked Samus in the chest as hard as she could. The acidic blood burned her bare foot, but she ignored it and kicked her limp form several more times.

"I'm not scared of you!" she yelled at the unconscious bounty hunter. "I beat you and you can't kill me now!"

It was a hollow victory. Samus had already been so weak and exhausted by the time Ruth had shot her that it was only too easy to take her down. The xeno-dragon had done most of the work.

Ruth looked up to the xeno-dragon, which was now sitting on its hind legs and staring at her expectantly. "You're the one who really beat her."

There was a low rumble from the dragon's throat, and it sounded almost like a purr. Ruth smiled. Then she looked back down at Samus and frowned again.

She was still alive, though just barely. As much as Ruth hated to admit it, she was impressed by the hunter's tenacity and the way she clung to life. She was ghostly pale from blood loss and one of her legs was twisted at an impossible angle as though it was broken, but still, the mercenary continued to breathe. It gave Ruth the chills.

"Are you all right?" she asked the dragon, forcing herself to look away from Samus.

The dragon made another noise, and Ruth smiled as it stretched out its wings to show its injuries were minimal.

"I'm glad for that," she continued, taking a few steps closer to the dragon. "I think it's just you and me now. I'm sorry I wasn't here for your hatching, and I'm sorry you never got to see this place before…" She shuddered, thinking of the bodies they had stepped over to get here. "Before that woman came here and ruined everything."

The dragon hissed with displeasure at the reference to Samus, but it displayed no aggression toward Ruth as she walked up to it and leaned against its foreleg.

"We're going to be okay," she said as she pet the dragon and looked at the burns on its face. "We're together, and she can't hurt us any—"

But Ruth never finished the sentence as blood sprayed out from her chest and her eyes grew wide. Suddenly, her body began to fall, first to her knees and then completely to the ground as blood gushed out from the entry and exit wounds. She didn't even have time to realize she had been shot before she lay dead, her blue eyes still open and staring up at the ceiling.

Only a few meters away, Samus looked up, pistol still in her hand as she watched to make sure she had killed her clone.

The sour, metallic taste of blood filled her mouth as she looked up at the dragon. She could barely see as darkness closed in around her vision, and she expected to fall unconscious for real at any moment.

To her surprise, the dragon didn't attack her again. Instead, it just stood beside Ruth's corpse, watching Samus as though it were waiting for something. She couldn't make any sense of it. Then again, she couldn't figure out why it hadn't attacked Ruth either.

She stared at the pistol in her hand until she couldn't keep her head up anymore. It wouldn't put a dent in the dragon's hide, and she could barely even see to aim it at this point. The blackness continued to consume her vision until it was gone entirely and she fell unconscious.

* * *

Chance pounded frantically at the sealed metal doors through which Ruth had just thrown him. His heart was pounding wildly, and his breathing came too fast as he tried desperately to make it past the barrier. But it was useless. He was no match for the sealed metal.

Exhaustion catching up with him, he slumped to the ground. Defeated. He could only hope that Samus was doing better on her end and could kill the dragon and subdue Ruth, who apparently had latent psychic powers. It was too much to take in. Between Samus being the Zero Host, Samus trying to kill Ruth, Ruth attacking him, and a giant acid-bleeding dragon, the semi-human couldn't keep up. It made his head spin just trying to think about it.

He pulled an earpiece from the pocket of his jump suit and put it on before tapping his watch a few times.

"Adam?" he said, hoping for a response.

"Chance," the AI's voice replied. "What's your status? Have you found Samus?"

"Um… kind of. We were together, but I lost her again. We were attacked."

"By one of the bioforms on the _Arcadia?_ Have you discovered anything about the Host?"

"Oh boy…" Chance sighed. "Where do I even begin? Everyone on this ship is dead except some weird dragon things and a freaky clone of Samus."

"Do you mean…" Adam paused. "Were they actually able to capture one of the SA-X?"

"What?" Chance asked before shaking his head and deciding he was too tired to ask about what an SA-X was. "Not that I know of. This clone… she was completely human. Well, mostly anyway. She's human, but she's psychic!"

"How odd. Is she related to the Zero Host in any way?"

"Heh," Chance laughed uncomfortably as he stood up and looked around the room. "Oh yeah. We know what the Zero Host is now, and I don't really get it, but apparently it's been Samus this whole time. She thinks this place is a trap."

"…Chance, listen to me." Adam spoke in an authoritative tone uncharacteristic of an artificial intelligence. "You need to return to the ship. Now. There are Federation ships quickly approaching, and this is not going to end well."

"But what about Samus?" Chance looked frantically to the sealed doors, realizing once again that he had no way of getting to the bounty hunter.

"I've been trying Samus's comm unit, but she isn't responding. This doesn't bode well for us. I need you to return immediately. If Samus really is the Zero Host and this is some kind of trap, then the Federation ships coming in will likely have elite troops on them. Without Samus, our chance of surviving an attack is non-existent."

Chance hesitated. "And if I stay here?"

"You're not going to rescue Samus, if that's what you're thinking. You're more useful alive than dead, and if you stay there, you will die. I advise against it."

Looking back at the sealed doors one more time, Chance reluctantly turned away and began walking back toward the ship. "Okay. I'm on my way back."

"Hurry. The Federation ships are approaching fast."

Taking a deep breath, Chance broke into a run as best as he could. Exhaustion threatened to stop him, but he pushed past it. He was red and panting by the time he got back to where the ship was docked, and as soon as he was back on board, he felt it detach from the _Arcadia_ and make a quick jump into hyperspace.

His legs wobbled beneath him as he tried to walk. It was as though now that he had reached his destination, all of the fight had gone out of him and he was ready to collapse. He was lucky he made it to the medical bay before his strength finally gave out, but luckily there was someone there to catch him as he fell.

"Chance?" Elisa asked as she caught the semi-human in her arms. "What happened to you? Where's Samus?"

Slowly, she helped him up onto the exam table and got him to lay down so she could begin running tests and checking his vitals.

"I'm okay," he said as he held out his arm for her to check his blood pressure. "Really. I'm just tired. I met up with Samus and let her feed off of my energy for a bit, but we got separated."

Elisa suddenly looked like a deer in headlights, and Chance felt guilty about causing her distress.

"I think she'll be all right," he added quickly. "She was fighting a thing and we just got separated by some door that locked… but she had already beaten a bunch of other things like the thing she was fighting so I think she'll be fine. This is Samus we're talking about."

Elisa nodded, but her face let Chance know she didn't actually believe him. As she checked him over, she moved with a sense of urgency. She didn't speak a word until she was finished and he sat up. Chance was just about to thank her for checking him out when Elisa turned to him with a frighteningly determined look in her eyes.

"You know we have to go back there," she said. "Adam may be the one steering this ship, but I'll be damned before I let a machine force me away from her. I lost her once, Chance. That's not happening again."

The lemur just stared at her. He knew he wasn't going to be able to talk her down, not with her resolve as strong as it obviously was.

"Okay," he said. "Rescue mission. So what's the plan?"


	35. Chapter 35: Freedom's Just Another Word

Hector could see his breath in the air as he loaded the last suitcase into the back of Maggie's hovercar. It had been dark for several hours now, and it was starting to snow. Clouds obscured the light from the stars and moon, and the only way he could see at all was from the car's headlights as he made his way cautiously to the passenger side door and climbed inside. Abby's knuckles were white as she clutched the steering wheel, staring straight ahead as Hector closed and locked the door.

Windshield wipers slapped time like a metronome as they sat in silence watching the snowfall. No one knew they were out here. Morrigan and the others were fast asleep in the house. After a minute, Hector looked over to Abby as she continued to stare straight ahead.

"We really doing this?" he asked.

"What other choice do we have?" she replied. She turned to look down and shift into drive. "If we stay here, they'll find us eventually, and then what've we got?"

"Samus said to—"

"Samus said a lot of things." The car began to lift off the ground and glide as Abby watched the road ahead. "She doesn't know everything. We've got Chance and Calline's testimony. We made contact with the _Dreamboat Annie_ , and they're spreading the word as best they can. So best case scenario, they sway public opinion. But if there's one thing I learned from my father it's that most folks won't listen to the truth even if you show them proof. Not if it interferes with their view of the world."

Hector paused for a moment. "I thought your father said the human heart would always search for the truth?"

"He did." Abby didn't bat an eye or look his way as she drove down the long driveway and through the gates of Blackacre. "He believed that. That's why he's dead."

"Abby, that's not—"

"Look where we are. Zero Host is real. No one believed him. Now look where we are."

Hector took a deep breath. He felt like he should have been comforting her or something, but she was so focused on driving on the pitch-dark road that he didn't know what to say. "Samus believed him."

"She did." She nodded slightly as she kept her eyes glued to the snowflakes flying into the windshield. "That's how she ended up getting arrested, nearly dying from heat stroke and then becoming an alcoholic."

"Ouch." Hector frowned.

"I'm sorry. I'm just… this is important. I can't question myself now because it's taking all I've got in me not to turn around and go back to Morrigan's house."

"So no looking back," Hector said, looking out through the windshield at the icy road ahead of them. "We're going to Admiral Dane and the Marines. We're going to commit treason."

"We've already committed treason."

"Right. We're going to commit more treason."

The ghost of a smile flickered past Abby's lips. "That's the spirit."

"At this point, why not? We've got nothing left to lose."

"Exactly. No homes to go back to. Can't go back to school."

"We can do whatever we want."

"Absolute freedom."

They drove in silence for a while, save for the sound of the wiper blades struggling to cut through the ice as it started to accumulate. Abby hit a button on the dash, and the windshield began to heat up and melt it.

"Except not really," Hector said after a minute. "I've still got my dad, and you've still got your mom and sister."

"You've still got a mom, too, Hector."

"Heh. Samus? Yeah, but I mean… she's already neck deep in this mess. There's nothing I can do to shield her from it. Dad's innocent though. I'd hate to think the Feds would drag him into this just to get at me."

"If they haven't already."

They didn't speak much for the rest of the drive. Occasionally one or the other would try to break the silence, but the attempts were short lived. There was nothing to say that could ease either of their anxieties. Day broke but the storm didn't. The snow got higher and higher below the floating car, and visibility barely improved even when it was close to noon. For most of the way, they were the only ones on the road.

It was nearly night again when they finally arrived at the Marine base, and it seemed like no one was surprised to see them. Several armed Marines stepped aside and opened the gate the compound to let them drive through. No one stopped them as they headed for Admiral Dane's house.

Even as Abby parked the car and they stepped out, no one said anything to them. There was a heavier air around the base than there had been last time. The Marines had been preparing for something. As Abby and Hector walked toward Dane's front door, it opened and he beckoned them inside his dated living room.

"So I take it you've spoken to Samus," Dane said simply as Hector and Abby came in out of the cold.

"We have," Abby replied. "I take it you know what we've come here to propose?"

The Admiral nodded. "I do. And I know you're fully aware of the consequences if we go through with this."

"Civil War," Hector said, looking between Dane and Abby. "We attack the Army, and the whole galaxy takes sides and tries to destroy itself."

"Bingo." Dane didn't smile, but his expression softened slightly as his one eye looked the young man up and down. "You know there's been a video starting to circulate some of the back channels of the web. It's been growing. People keep adding footage to it of the destruction done to the outer planets, the ones the Federation has been colonizing. I can't help but think someone is purposefully trying to sow the seeds of doubt in the Federation's leadership now that the woman who was once hailed as their greatest hero is now being called public enemy number one."

Abby raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that Samus's treason has destabilized public opinion that much? There are people siding with her?"

"You two really have been out of touch with the rest of the galaxy, haven't you?" The Admiral laughed. "Her sigil, that lightning bolt thing she wears around her neck, has been popping up all over the place. In graffiti. In banners held by the rebels on the colonized planets. A lot of people saw her actions, her insubordination, as a signal. Time to take up arms and fight for real. If we attack Harper's troops and try to stage a coup to overthrow Chairman McKinnon, we're not starting a civil war. We're already in one."

"My mother started a civil war?" Hector asked, completely bewildered by the revelation. "I don't think she's even aware of that."

"That makes sense. I imagine if she had been, she would have made an appearance by now." Dane frowned. "There were rumors that she had been killed in the explosion of SR-388."

"She's very much alive," Abby said. "At least, she was last time we saw her. She left a few days ago. She's gone after something called the Zero Host."

The Admiral's remaining eye searched Abby's face. "And what does she know about it? Where did she go to find it?"

"A ship called the _G.F.S. Arcadia._ It's where she was taken when she suffered the X infection and had the surgery to alter her power suit."

"Damn." The Admiral furrowed his brows. "That's where Harper is. We've been tracking her forces. They were responding to a distress call from the _Arcadia_ and are likely out there by now. This doesn't bode well for Samus if she's out there fighting the Host."

"What do you think we should do?" Hector asked as he felt the blood running cold in his veins. For the first time since she had left, he realized that he was truly frightened by the prospect that Samus might not survive, that she might be defeated with the odds stacked so high against her.

Dane's face was grim as he opened the front door and gestured to the Marines hurrying about on the snow-covered base. "All I have to do is give the word, and they'll mobilize. We all know what's going on, and there are other fleets that will join if we lead. Now that we have a target, we fly out at 21:00, and we make our first strike at the forces surrounding the _Arcadia._ "

"And what should we do then?" Hector asked.

The Admiral stared down at him with his commanding, no-nonsense stare. "Suit up and prepare for war. You're not a civilian anymore, kid."

* * *

"What happened here?" Harper asked as she looked around at the bloodstained walls and mangled bodies that littered the corridors of the _G.F.S. Arcadia._ She was dressed in a full combat suit. Though its navy blue armor matched that of her troops, she wore a large symbol of the Federation on the left side of her chest plate. "What kind of creature did this?"

Around her, Federation troops swarmed the vicinity, looking into every room, alcove, nook, and cranny they could find, guns raised and blazing. Harper watched in dismay. She knew they were responding to a distress signal, but he had not expected to find anything like this.

"Madame Secretary," one of the soldiers said as they came back to report to her. "It seems that the causes of death for many of the bodies in this area may have been alien in nature. All of the bodies show signs of something having emerged from within their chest cavities. Most show other signs of dismemberment and even… well some of the bodies look like something was eating them."

Harper's eyes narrowed as she looked down at the fully armored soldier. "Xenomorphs. Where's Calvin Renpo?"

"He's still on the ship, Ma'am. I can get him if you would like."

"Do it."

She waited impatiently for Renpo to appear. This was not the sort of damage she had expected to walk into on the _Arcadia_. If anything, she was expecting to find that Samus Aran had been here and attempted to wreak havoc upon their experiments. She had not counted on the experiments going rogue and apparently killing their creators.

"You wanted to see me, General Harper?" Renpo's voice asked, and she turned around to see him coming toward her, escorted by two guards. Unlike the troops, he did not wear an armored suit, just his lab coat.

"What the hell did this?" she demanded, gesturing to the bodies that lined the corridor. "What were your scientists working on and how the hell did it escape?"

Renpo frowned as he gazed disinterestedly at the bodies on the ground. "Our security system must have malfunctioned. Idiots."

"You call this a security system malfunction?"

Renpo looked up at Harper. "Not a regular security system. There was one creature we engineered to act as a guard dog of sorts in case our fair mercenary showed up before we were ready for her. XR-13 was a fusion of xenomorph and space dragon DNA, cloned from the cells of old Ridley himself. It was supposed to be male." He frowned. "I guess life finds a way."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harper snapped.

"Look at the bodies. Chestbursters came out of these. Something must have happened to cause XR-13 to mutate into a female, more specifically, a queen. It got loose and the rest is history."

"And given that you engineered this creature to be of a caliber capable of facing down Aran," Harper replied, "your scientists never stood a chance."

"That's putting it lightly. One of these things was supposed to be enough to take Aran or at least hold her off for a while. I can't imagine what a whole swarm of them would do."

Harper frowned, and as several of the troops looked to her for guidance, she gestured for them to continue down the dark corridor. As they went, she followed along, looking for anything else out of the ordinary. Renpo reluctantly stayed by her side, despite his look of disgust as he saw drying blood caking on the bottom of his shoes.

The deeper they traveled into the ship, the more bodies they found and the thicker the blood was that sat in puddles on the ground. The soldiers seemed uneasy, keeping their rifles raised and ready as they cautiously explored the surrounding rooms before giving the Secretary of Defense and the Chief Science Officer the all clear to walk past them. Though she didn't say anything out loud, Harper found it odd that they had not seen even a single one of the xenomorph dragons that supposedly infested the labs.

As they came to a large set of heavy double doors that had been ripped from their hinges, two of the troops entered an absolutely massive room before coming back out to get Harper's attention.

"General Harper," one of them called. "You need to see what's in here."

Harper could feel her blood chill in her veins as she walked toward the room. She didn't know what she expected to find, but somehow she imagined it was worse than a xeno-dragon.

Unfortunately for her, that hunch had been correct, and as several of the troops shone their rifle lights into the room, Harper looked upon the massive bodies of no fewer than seven slaughtered xeno-dragons. The largest corpse was in the center of the room, most likely XR-13 itself given its gargantuan size and the way its head crested into a crown reminiscent of the xenomorph queens.

"Cause of death?" she asked, already dreading the answers.

"Concussive ice blasts on some of the smaller ones," on of the soldiers replied. "Internal injuries consistent with explosives. Whatever did this was packing some serious weaponry."

"Is that all?" Renpo asked, sounding annoyed as he looked over his work that now lay dead and rotting on the ground.

"No, Sir," the soldier said with a shake of their head. "The largest one, the one we think might be their queen, it seems to have been killed by… by something that syphoned the life energy right out of it. I know it sounds ridiculous since the species is extinct, but it's almost like a Metroid got to it."

Renpo raised an eyebrow. "It seems our Host might have beaten us here after all."

Harper glared at the scientist. "And a damn lousy job your 'security system' did, killing our people and then getting killed by the one person they were created to fight."

"Hm, ironic, don't you think?"

Harper huffed in anger with a glare that dared Renpo to make another smart-ass remark.

More interested in self-preservation than pride, the scientist didn't say anything further as the group traveled on past the dragon corpses and out into another corridor. The whole ship stank of blood and death, and Harper practically held her breath as they approached the Zero Lab. As they entered, she felt a bit more able to breathe when she saw that the infant Metroid tank was still intact. Perhaps, she mused, Samus had not come this way after all.

Her relief was short lived, however, because it was not long before they found a slaughtered experiment, a deformed sort of human-Chozo hybrid. Analysis showed it had been terminated by an electrical beam weapon that was capable of traveling through solid walls without damaging them. Harper just looked at Renpo as they exchanged a silent understanding.

"What do you think has become of SA-One?" she asked Renpo as they began to move again, heading into the next room.

"Honestly?" The scientist shook his head. "Samus doesn't have a great history with clones. I suspect—"

Harper held up a hand to silence him as they entered the final room. This time, she could feel her pulse quicken as she looked over at a door labeled "Control". It had been left open, its occupant likely dead inside.

The General lowered her weapon and approached slowly, bracing herself for what she expected to find in the small room. However, as she looked in, she saw that the room was empty. Its occupant had likely fled.

Renpo raised his eyebrows as he joined Harper and surveyed the empty room. "Guess SA-One actually had the sense to get out before things went south."

"Where is she, Renpo?"

"General Harper," another armored trooper called, showing her a map display. "There are live biosigns coming from a room a way's back. It's a bit off the way we came, but I think something is alive over there."

Harper's breath caught in her throat as she thought of the missing clone girl. "Proceed then, full speed."

The troops filed out in a light run as Harper and Renpo followed close behind. She cursed herself for not thinking to look for biosigns earlier as most of the ground she now covered was almost like retracing their steps. At a certain point, however, the path diverged, and as they came up on the area that has given the reading, she slowed to a walk.

"Ruth…" she whispered to herself, too softly for anyone to hear as a small group of soldiers led the charge into the room.

She was about to run in behind them when a sudden explosion flashed before her eyes, taking out three of her troops as a mighty roar boomed in the distance.

"DRAGON!" one of them yelled as all of the troopers raised their rifles and began to fire at some unseen being.

As the soldiers rushed at it, Harper followed behind, staring in awe as the xeno-dragon came into view. It was smaller than the dead ones they had seen, but it was still massive. Something must have gotten to it already because its face was badly burned. As a pulse rifle blast hit it directly in the eye, the young dragon reared up with a sound that was almost like a scream. Taking the opportunity, the rest of the troops began firing at its exposed chest as its limbs flailed wildly in the air.

Harper thought that they might have actually stood a change at defeating it, but before the battle could progress, the beast took to the air, spreading its massive wings as it blasted a hole high above them and used it to flee into another room.

It was pointless to try and follow, but several troops ran out to another room, trying to cut it off before it could get away. But Harper knew it was futile. The dragon was far faster than a human, and it was gone for now.

She was about to turn back when something in the distance caught her eye, something the dragon must have been guarding when they came in. As she walked toward it, she recognized it as the form of a woman. Her heart threatened to stop in her chest as she recognized the long blonde hair and ran toward her. Renpo and several of the others were shouting things, but Harper was too focused on her target to hear any of them. As she knelt beside the slain woman, Harper gently pushed a lock of hair out of her face and looked into her lifeless blue eyes. Blood stained the chest of her gown, but the exit wound was not large enough to have been caused by any type of xenomorph.

"Ruth," she whispered softly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

"Is that SA-One?" Renpo asked over her shoulder.

Harper jumped slightly as she turned to face him. "What do you think, asshole? That it's the real Samus Fucking Aran?"

"Of course not." Renpo gave her a questioning look as he pointed a few meters away from where Ruth lay. "But check that out."

Harper got up as stared at what he had been pointing at. It was the form of another woman, one very similar looking to SA-One. As Harper approached her body, she saw the troops had all of their rifles trained on the crumpled form. At first, the General thought the other woman was dead as well. Her skin was ghastly white, and she looked battered and burned as she lay in a shallow pool of her own blood. But as Harper got closer, she saw that the woman was still breathing, but only barely.

The dying woman's hand still clutched a small gun, but Harper stepped heavily on her wrist as she took the gun from her hand and gave it to one of the soldiers to hold. Then, very slowly, she bent down beside the body and rolled it onto its back to reveal the unmistakable face of the real Samus Aran.

Slowly, the bounty hunter's eyes began to open as she stared up at Harper. Rage seething through her, the General stepped heavily on Samus's chest as she lowered herself down and mouthed the words "You killed her" before rearing back and kicking Samus in the side and then stepping on her again.

The bounty hunter's face contorted with pain, but all she could do was whimper weakly. She tried to struggle against the weigh of Harper's boot, but she barely had the strength left to bat pathetically at her before the effort left her panting with exhaustion.

"I didn't think this was how we'd end up meeting again," Harper sneered at the badly weakened hunter. As she stared down at Samus, one of the soldiers handed her something that appeared to be a large white ring.

"You see this?" Harper asked as she pulled the ring apart to show small bolts of the green and blue energy jumping between the separated points. "This collar is made with the same energy as the Zero Beam."

She reached down and roughly grabbed Samus by the hair, jerking her head up as she snapped the collar around her neck and let her go. Samus whimpered as her head hit the floor, and she fell unconscious once again.

Harper stared at Samus, seething with fury as she stepped off of her chest and nodded to the troops waiting beside her. "Take her away."

As four of the soldiers rushed to pick up the unconscious Samus, a fifth turned to Harper. "Scans show that the holding block in Sector E was unaffected by the power outage and still sealed off behind level 5 doors. Permission to access the sector and keep the criminal in one of the maximum security cells?"

Harper nodded. "Permission granted. Get her out of my face."

She watched with disdain as the troops carried off Samus and the rest followed behind, heading in the direction of Sector E. In truth, she had not planned on finding the ship in this state of disarray or capturing Samus this easily. The ships they had arrived in did not have any prisoner holding cells.

When at last the soldiers were out of sight and only Harper and Renpo remained, the General allowed herself to turn back to where Ruth lay. She knelt beside her once more and gently took the dead girl into her arms. She closed her eyes with two fingers so she looked like she was simply sleeping, save for the blood staining her gown.

"Bring her back," Harper said to Renpo, never taking her eyes off of Ruth's face.

"We can just make another one," Renpo replied, staring at the bizarre display of affection. "It'll take a while, but I don't think Samus is going to get up and go anywhere any time soon."

Harper shot the scientist a nasty glare as she stood up with Ruth in her arms. "No. It has to be this one. This one is loyal to us. She'll do what I say."

Renpo stared curiously at Harper as she handed him the dead girl, and he staggered under her weight as he tried to hold her. "You've got to be kidding me. You want me to bring her back from the dead? After she's been shot?"

"She's still warm, Calvin. Fix her body with your robotics, and as far as any damage to her brain goes, fill in the blanks with the uploaded AI mind we used when we made her the first time."

Renpo shook his head as he looked at the dead body in his arms. "All right. I'll see what I can do. I still don't understand your… _attachment_ to this one. She's a weapon, Adele."

"Just shut the fuck up and do it, Calvin, or I'll make sure you never get the chance to do anything in a lab again for the rest of your miserable life."

The scientist frowned, but he didn't say anything as the General turned and followed where her troops had gone. Not sure what else to do with himself, Renpo followed behind her, awkwardly carrying the limb body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author's Note: Hey everyone, hope you are doing well. I feel like I should take a moment to mention the tragic effects of Hurricane Harvey and what it's doing to Texas. As someone who lived in New Orleans for nine years, this is an issue very near and personal to me. I started volunteering in cleanup efforts back in 2008 for the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. As recently as this year, I've been helping people try to get home again after more than a decade. Hurricanes ave long term and disastrous effects. Please help the survivors of this disaster if you are able, whether you choose to donate blood, money, or time. And if you can't do any of that, please just be mindful of the effects this has had on people whose lives have been turned upside down and remember that everyone's fighting a battle that you can't see. Now is the time to put differences aside and come together as human beings. I've lived through both the post-Katrina and post-Sandy recovery efforts and multiple family members who had 4+ feet of water in their houses, and it takes more of a toll than people realize if they've never been through it.
> 
> So I apologize for the tangent, but it's been heavy on my mind this past week as I wait to find out how this will ultimately turn out for family members of mine who still live in Louisiana. Thank you for being so patient.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and are enjoying this story so far. If you haven't done so already, I suggest checking out my little Samus story "Reflection" and DoctorSupernova's short story "White Winged Dove," both written for a Metroid art and short story swap.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please take time to leave review!


	36. Chapter 36: Nothing Left to Lose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a head's up. It's a pretty dark chapter even by my standards.

"How's it coming along?" Harper asked as she stared impatiently over Renpo's shoulder. The two of them were in one of the _Arcadia's_ few remaining labs, and the doctor was busy at work over a massive holoscreen.

"With all due respect, Madam Secretary, you have asked me not just to resurrect SA-One from the dead, but also to install some experimental hardware. It's going to take a minute…"

Harper frowned as she watched his hands shuffle around lights and numbers on the screen in front of him. They didn't mean anything to her, so she had little interest in the science behind them. The only thing that interested her was what lay on the operating tables behind glass in the sterile room in front of them.

Side by side, there were two unconscious women, both nearly identical. The only difference was that one was a scarred up, barely human mercenary, and the other was a much softer and prettier human clone. The mercenary was still alive, although just barely, as robotic limbs operated on her chest. Finished with their initial task, they were now sealing up a long incision between her breasts.

Beside her, the delicate looking human woman was also alive, but only because she was hooked to several life support systems. Robotic limbs also operated on her, reattaching nerves and repairing damage as well as installing an alien-looking metallic disk into her chest.

"Aran's surgery is finished," Renpo said to Harper as he input the codes to close out her program. "We weren't able to remove that power energy core in her chest without killing her, but I think we've got a decent working replica in the one we're putting into SA-One."

"Good," Harper said, watching anxiously as Ruth's surgery continued. "Very good…"

Renpo stole a quick glance at the General through the side of his eyes. She was too engaged in the experiment, and it bothered him.

"You know SA-One's chances of surviving this augmentation are barely fifty percent."

Harper glared at the scientist. "If she dies, you die."

Renpo didn't say anything for a long while as he went back to operating in silence, manipulating the mechanical arms in the sterile room behind the glass. Only once he had finished and was stitching up Ruth's chest did he turn to Harper once again.

"While I'm loath to take General Malkovich's side in anything," he began, "I do think he may have been onto something in this one scenario."

Harper shot the man a look that could only be described as pure hatred. "If you're suggesting that I shouldn't have chosen Ruth's AI for this prototype—"

"I don't think you're able to be objective when it comes to Ruth, Adele." Renpo shook his head. "She doesn't deserve this life. She wasn't a killer. We never should have made her into a weapon."

Harper didn't say anything as she watched Ruth. The robotic arms were pulling themselves away from her body now. The blond woman looked tiny and fragile as she lay on the metal table attached to the series of machines. Harper looked away. She didn't want to see this scene again.

"She wasn't a weapon," Harper said with an uncharacteristic softness, "but she was brilliant. Was I just supposed to let her mind upload rot away on some dusty old shelf in the archives because of a ban on human engineering?"

"As I've said before," Renpo said slowly, trying to choose his words carefully, "I understand your objection to Former Chairman Keaton's ruling and Malkovich's opposition. I've done what you asked. Ruth's mind now has a body. I know it was the only human one we could get, but I still don't think it was the right one. Samus Aran—"

"Samus Aran will be dead before long," Harper snapped back at the scientist.

"Should I terminate her now?"

"No." Harper frowned as she watched Ruth's chest rising and falling through the aid of the machine. "We need her for now. She's still dangerous without her armor, but for now, we need her in case anything happens to Ruth."

Renpo pursed his lips together as he held himself back from saying what was on his mind. "All right. We'll keep her alive for now in case we need her for any further experiments. And we'll transport SA-One to recovery. When she's able to walk on her own, if she ever gets to that point, we'll see if the hardware installation was a success. If not… well, I guess you can keep her as a pet or something."

* * *

Pain.

Horrible, unbearable pain.

That's all Samus was aware of. Her skin was burned so badly that even the fabric of her jumpsuit hurt it. Her chest hurt. Each breath was agony. Her ribs must have been broken, she thought vaguely. Her left leg was broken. Badly broken. Even in her semi-conscious state, she knew it was definitely broken.

She didn't know where she was. While it was typical for her to wake up in a disoriented fog, she felt even worse than usual, trying desperately to remember what had hurt her. The ground was cold and hard. It looked like metal. Everything else looked blurry. She could hear people talking in the distance, but it was muffled.

Attempts to move brought nothing but pain, but the pain gave her something to cling to as she fought back against the urge to pass out again. It was starting to come back to her now. The battles against the xeno-dragons. Discovering she was the Zero Host. Finding Ruth. More fighting. Her defeat.

Defeat.

She had been defeated. That's why she was so injured now. She had been fighting one of the dragons when Ruth shot her and deactivated the power suit. There had been more after that. Fire. Someone had kicked her repeatedly. Perhaps it had been Ruth. Ruth… Ruth was dead. Samus had shot her. That much she remembered. But why hadn't the dragon attacked her again? And why hadn't it attacked Ruth at all?

She closed her eyes again. Just thinking was taking more energy than she could spare at the moment. Her memory was coming back, but she was afraid of fainting and forgetting everything again. Long, slow breaths helped her focus on staying awake and getting through the latest surge of pain.

If she had been defeated, then wherever she was now couldn't have been safe. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and tried propping herself up on her arms, but her exhausted muscles quivered like gelatin and she couldn't lift her torso at all. It took a deep breath and too much effort to raise her head enough to look up at her surroundings.

"Oh, you're awake?" a man's voice asked from just beyond what appeared to be a wall of missile-proof glass. She was in a holding cell.

Samus didn't say anything as she studied the two fully armored guards who looked at her through opaque orange visors. Their navy blue armor suggested they were officers in the Federation Army.

"So that's Samus Aran," the second man said, a slight chuckle in his voice. "Doesn't look like much. Hard to believe a woman like this completed any of those missions she supposedly did."

Samus's face remained stoic as she looked at the two men, but as they looked in at her, she was painfully conscious of her weakness. She knew that if push came to shove, she wouldn't have the strength to protect herself from one of them, let alone both.

"What's the matter?" the first man asked in a mocking tone. "Is the big, bad bounty hunter actually scared?"

"You've been out cold for two days," the second one said. "Didn't think you'd ever get up."

"Where am I?" Samus demanded, but her voice was weak and raspy. The pain in her chest was unbearable, and as she subconsciously touched it with her fingers, she realized that there was a freshly stitched wound right between her breasts where the power suit's energy mass would be.

Suddenly even more nervous than she had been before, she tried to activate her suit, but nothing happened. Instead, she got a sharp shock from something around her neck and let out surprised yelp.

Both of the men laughed as Samus's arms gave out and her face smacked the ground before she could even register what had happened.

"Told you she'd try to do that," she heard one of the men say. "You owe me ten credits."

Her breathing was rough and heavy as she lay with her eyes closed. She thought she was going to pass out again, but she clung to consciousness with everything she could muster. Slowly, her hand made its way up to her neck, and she felt the heavy metal collar that had zapped her. It was still pulsating with some kind of energy, most likely that green and blue energy that could disable her suit.

"Finally figured it out, bounty hunter?" one of the men jeered from the other side of the glass.

"Idiots…" Samus muttered through labored breaths, too exhausted to lift her head again to face them. "You should just kill me while you have the chance instead of making jokes at my expense. I'll remember them…"

"Oh really? You're trying to intimidate us? Now? Like that?"

Samus didn't say anything. It felt like a hollow threat to her as well, but she was out of ideas.

"Maybe you shouldn't be threatening us," the other man said. Samus could feel their eyes on her. "We won't forget that either."

"Shit," the first man said. "How the hell did someone like you manage to become such a big fucking deal?"

"Whatever it was, it wasn't her looks," the other one replied. "If that jumpsuit weren't so tight, I'd swear she was a man under there."

Samus felt her cheeks get hot and suddenly wished she had something to cover herself up with. As useful as the jumpsuit was, it really didn't leave much to the imagination, and she felt like she might as well have been naked.

"Go fuck yourselves," she muttered, opening her eyes and glaring at the two guards, but to her dismay they just laughed at her. The sound grated on her nerves, and she could feel her chest tightening again as her breathing started to come quicker.

"Wow," the first man said. "I never thought I'd see the day, but Samus Aran looks like she's about to piss herself with fear!"

He feigned like her was about to attack her, and as Samus reflexively flinched, he broke out into laughter once again. Her eyes were wild as she stared at the two men, and her muscles were tight. She might now have had any strength left, but somehow she was in attack mode.

"She wants to fight us," the second man said, looking Samus dead in the eyes through his opaque visor.

"Wow," the first one replied. "Doesn't know when to quit, does she? It'd be quite a story to tell if we survived a fight with Samus Aran…"

"She's half dead. Can't even lift her head up, much less throw a punch."

"Makes it all the more fun for us then, doesn't it?"

Samus could feel her skin prickling as the two men turned to the door in the glass wall and began inputting the codes for the lock. Her breath was so fast she was on the verge of hyperventilating. She couldn't think clearly. Everything in her brain was screaming at her to run or fight, but even as she tried to get up again, her exhausted muscles just didn't have the strength left. Her arms gave out quickly, leaving her helpless on the ground once more.

She had to think fast, but her mind was in full panic mode as she saw the door open and the two Federation officers come into her cell. She tried to struggle with all her might as one of the men grabbed her from behind, wrenched her arms behind her back, and lifted her so her torso was exposed to the other man like a human punching bag. No matter what she did, she couldn't break free, and it terrified her.

"With you whimpering like that it's hard to believe you were any kind of warrior, let alone a legendary bounty hunter," he mocked as he pulled back his fist and got ready to strike her.

Samus didn't know what came over her. One minute her mind was blank, and the next she found herself spitting a mouthful of blood into his visor before he could land the punch. The man screamed as it ate through his visor and began burning his eyes.

Samus may not have had the strength to fight, but she was able to turn her head around in time to spit in the other man's visor as well, causing him to release her arms and drop her to the floor. Her breath was wild, and she was seeing red. There was nothing on her mind now except survival.

Survival.

Sustenance.

She needed sustenance if she had any hope of regaining her strength. With a surge of adrenaline, she was able to propel herself just far enough to grab onto the man in front of her and pull herself onto him. He lay on the ground clutching his face through his shattered visor and shouting incoherently.

The bounty hunter ignored his protests as she let out a primordial hiss and spat blood onto his hands. As the acid ate through the armor, he began flailing his arms, trying to stop the burning sensation on his flesh, but he left his face open. Not missing a beat, Samus seized the opportunity and head-butted the remains of the shattered visor until she had a clear shot at his face. With an inhuman screech she had never made before, she opened her jaws and bit down on his face with her fangs as she sucked the life force clean out of him.

He flailed around, reigning blows upon Samus with his fists. Though the pain was excruciating, Samus barely felt it. She was too focused on feeding to notice. It barely took any time at all before his flailing ceased and she realized she had drained him dry. Discarding the corpse, she could feel some strength returning to her as she turned toward the second man.

He was on his feet, stumbling about blindly. Though she still couldn't stand, Samus hungered voraciously for his life force. With a speed she hadn't realized she could muster, she launched herself at his ankles, spitting blood at his armor before sinking her fangs into his flesh.

The man screamed and toppled over, kicking Samus repeatedly in an attempt to free himself, but she held tight. She was death clinging to him as she drained him of his life force, leaving nothing but the still husk of a man on the ground before her.

As she pulled herself away, Samus licked the blood from her lips and stared at the dead bodies beside her.

"I told you that you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Her voice was stronger than it had been before, and with a bit of effort, she was able to sit upright. Her left leg, however, was still a mess. Broken and swollen, it was worse than useless.

She turned to one of the bodies and inspected its armor. The man was broader than her in the shoulders and torso, but his legs were about the same length. On a whim, Samus began tearing the armor from the corpse's leg. She pulled the dark blue pieces and black neuro-integration fibers clean off and began applying them to her own leg.

It felt weird to feel the armor attach and close in around her leg, integrating itself with her own nerves. Her power suit had been the only armor she had worn since she had left the Federation Army twenty years ago, and the armor back then had been no where near as advanced as what the troopers wore now.

She held her breath as the armor sealed itself over her leg, painfully forcing it to align properly. It was bulky and unbalanced for her to wear armor on just one leg, but she didn't have time to stick around and pull off the rest of the guard's suit. Someone might be coming to relieve him at any moment. She slung his pulse rifle over her shoulder and slowly stood up, bracing herself on the cell wall.

She was still weak, and her muscles trembled with the effort of standing, but she was on her feet, armed, and her broken leg was holding out thanks to the support of the armor. She needed to find a way to get the collar off of her neck, but until then, this would have to do.

At this point, she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing as far as her original mission objective had been concerned, and she found that she didn't care anymore. Right now, all she could think of was the deep, demanding hunger within her, the hunger for the life force of other organisms.


	37. Chapter 37: Don't Stop

"Once again, Ms. Rodriguez, I have to advise you against this course of action," the Adam AI's voice said into her ear for what must have been the fiftieth time.

Elisa paid him no mind, strapping another side arm hostler around the sleek black armor she wore. Only her head with the AI's earpiece remained visible as she slung a rifle over her back and glanced over to Calline. The girl was similarly dressed, but she had already put on her helmet. There was nothing remarkable about the black armored suits, and even their visors were a pale gray, but they were all they had access to at the moment.

Chance watched on silently. He had changed into a simple yellow dress, and his tail swished from side to side as he sat on a storage crate. They were in a large docking area close by to where Samus's gunship was parked, and they weren't alone.

Elisa glanced over to where a tall black man and woman stood as they studied them curiously. Supposedly, they were experts in stealth, and Chance had insisted that if she and Calline were going to try going on any kind of rescue mission that they come here first. This ship, the _Dreamboat Annie_ , was apparently the one Chance had been on when he first met Samus, and the ship's crew seemed acquainted with her as well. Elisa wasn't sure what to make of them at first, but they had been hospitable enough, allowing her and Calline to borrow a couple of suits of armor and supplies.

The woman called Thibodaux seemed particularly curious as she watched Elisa fidget with the armor, and Elisa felt somewhat uncomfortable under the woman's gaze. After a while, it finally got to be too much and she decided to say something.

"Is everything okay?" Elisa asked, trying to keep her tone from sounding too confrontational.

"Hm." Thibodaux smirked as she looked the officer up and down one more time. "You're Aran's wife, aren't you?"

Elisa raised her eyebrows. "Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?"

The woman shook her head and laughed. "No, no. It's not a big deal. I just remember hearing about it on the news when you were arrested and how worked up she got. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of a woman would date, let alone marry, someone like Samus Aran."

"Well? Am I what you expected?"

Thibodaux shook her head. "You're… well… I guess I just thought you'd be taller given the fact that your wife is a freakin' Amazon, but I guess that doesn't really matter. You've got a lot of nerve hooking up with someone like her."

Elisa couldn't help but smile at the other woman's observation. "Life never gets dull. That's for sure."

"Heh. Well, you and Cally be sure to give the Feds hell for us. We're working on our own part of this mission, something that involves a little less shooting."

Elisa thought for a moment before she remembered something. "You're the ones spreading the recording, aren't you?"

Thibodaux nodded. "We've got resistance units in three of the four main quadrants rallying right now. We're just fanning the flames a little bit, waiting to see what opportunity will present itself next. Anti-Federation sentiment has been building for some time now around the outer planets, particularly in areas that have been taken over by Federation colonies."

"Any word on actual revolt by the indigenous species?"

"Some. But it's only been small groups, and it gets snuffed out quickly. Mostly by species the Federation refuses to recognize as sentient. Until we can get them to actually organize, I doubt we're going to see any real change in the status quo."

Elisa nodded. "Thank you, Lieutenant Thibodaux. It means a lot to me, just knowing we have allies…" She turned to the tall black man beside Thibodaux. "And thank you, Captain Charbonnet. For the supplies, the armor, everything."

He smiled slightly but continued to watch Elisa with his stately air. "The Federation has been our enemy for a long time. It's good to have people on our side for once as well, however this ends."

"Elisa," Calline called. "We should be heading out now."

The officer turned to the girl and nodded as Chance got up and began walking toward the ship. Elisa turned to Charbonnet and shook his hand. "Thank you, Sir. We'll do our best with our end of the mission and we'll definitely remember you when this is all over."

"Glad to hear it," the captain replied before looking over his shoulder at something behind him. "Oh, before I forget. I believe there were a few of us on this ship who wanted to join you."

"Oh?" Elisa asked as she looked behind him to see what he was talking about. To her surprise, she saw five strange looking space animals: three little blue monkey things and a large green bird with a similar-looking chick beside it. "Who are they?"

Charbonnet smiled. "Friends of your wife. Etecoons and dachoras."

Elisa laughed as she looked at the friendly-looking creatures. "You guys want to join us, eh? Well, come on then! Samus has told me all about you!"

The creatures looked absolutely delighted as they rushed forward to join Elisa and head onto the ship.

When at last the left the _Dreamboat Annie,_ Elisa could feel the stark reality of their situation taking hold of her. It had been days since they had heard from Samus. Even Adam had not been able to contact her, and everyone had long ago started to expect the worst. Still, neither Elisa, Calline, nor Chance was willing to give up on the bounty hunter, and they were determined to try to rescue her, despite the overwhelming odds against them. Only Adam seemed to be against their rescue mission, but Elisa had a feeling that despite all of his fussing, he wanted to go after Samus as much as any of the rest of them did.

Elisa was not sure what the etecoons and dachoras could add to their small group, particularly given that she could not communicate with them. Chance, on the other hand, seemed to speak their language, and Elisa wondered if they were from the same sector of the galaxy.

It had taken them a long time to get out to the _Dreamboat Annie_ , but it only took twelve hours to find their way back to the _Arcadia._ They flew through hyperspace most of the way, and they knew exactly where to find it. Only Calline and the animals were able to relax enough to fall asleep while they traveled. Elisa was too on edge. She was sick with worry over Samus and was barely keeping herself together as the minutes ticked by.

When at last they docked, she and Calline put their helmets back on, strapping themselves up to the teeth with weapons. Calline may have been a child, but she had been trained in the elite Federation Force, and Elisa was hoping that would make her more of an asset than a liability. Chance, on the other hand, had no real combat training. His medical skills were invaluable though, so they had decided it was best for him to stay behind on the ship. Elisa didn't want to think about what kind of condition they would find Samus in if she were even still alive, but however they found her, it would be good to have a trained medical professional on standby.

Once the ship docked on the side of the _Arcadia,_ Elisa and Calline made their way off of it into one of the dark corridors. They moved stealthily in their agile armor as they looked for any signs of life. However, it appeared that this section of the ship had been long since abandoned. Claw marks and bloodstains on the steel-plated walls told the story of a hellish battle.

By the looks of it, someone had started attempting to clean the place up. There were caution ropes up in the doorways of some of the rooms, and after they walked for a while, they even came across some areas where the blood looked like it had been cleaned up. Still, the entire place seemed completely abandoned, and Elisa held her rifle close to her as they traversed the desolate halls. The silence was just too eerie.

After about an hour of wandering aimlessly, Elisa heard a faint sound in the distance. She stopped dead in her tracks, Calline nearly bumping into her, as she tried to figure out if it was what she thought it was.

"Hear that?" she asked as the girl looked over at her.

"Hmm… footsteps?"

Elisa nodded. "Metallic footsteps. Some wearing an armored suit."

Her heart fluttered in her chest as she listened to the rhythm of the footsteps. They sounded right, exactly right, and she could feel the excitement building up within her.

Taking Calline's hand, she started to run forward toward where the sound was coming from. She knew the sound, knew those footsteps. It had to be Samus.

It didn't take them long before a figure came into view, and Elisa was ready to scream with joy when she recognized it.

Her armor looked blue rather than orange, but the figure was definitely wearing Samus's Fusion Suit. Elisa figured she had probably gotten some kind of an upgrade that had changed the color of the armor's outer layer.

"Samus!" she called excitedly as she broke into a full sprint toward her lover. "It's really you! I was so worried! I'm so happy to see you, Samus!"

The figure simply turned to watch her approach.

* * *

Sweat dripped down Samus's forehead and she found herself panting with exhaustion as she forced herself to keep walking through the dark corridors. The armor might have been helping her stand on her broken leg, but it was heavy and her strength was lacking. Even the pulse rifle she carried felt too heavy in her arms and she could feel her tired muscles quivering and protesting as she held it in front of her at the ready.

She needed to rest. At this point, even though she had fed on the guards' energy, she hadn't had any actual food in three days, and she had gone nearly as long without water. The blood loss hadn't helped matters either, and she knew the only thing keeping her on her feet was the energy she had stolen. And that couldn't hold out forever.

She wasn't sure how long she'd be able to keep walking, but even as she thought about it her legs began to give out. Within seconds she found herself toppling to the ground, the rifle making a loud, hollow sound as it collided with the steel-plated floor. To her surprise, Samus found herself wishing she could just continue to lie there. Her body felt impossibly heavy and even her normally iron will was beginning to waver. The events of the past few weeks had been draining her since they began, and everything that had happened since coming to the _Arcadia_ had added to that exponentially. Everything in the Federation seemed damaged beyond repair or even recognition.

Still, in spite of how tempted she was to stay on the ground, the bounty hunter slowly lifted herself up, bracing against a wall for support as she did so. Her legs trembled with weakness, threatening to give out again, but they held for now. And that was all she needed.

Making an effort to walk slower and focus more on her balance, the mercenary continued down the hall. She didn't know where she was going. There were no objectives or maps at this point. All she could do was hope that she got lucky and didn't have to go through her usual course of exploration before she found where she was headed.

It wasn't long before she felt her legs giving out again, but this time she stopped to rest and gently lowered herself to the ground. She wasn't sure how many more falls she'd be able to take.

Sitting on the ground, she rested her back against a wall and placed a hand on her chest. Her heart was racing at over two hundred beats per minute, and she was starting to have a hard time breathing. It took a long time and a lot of slow, deep breaths before she was able to get it down to a safe level.

The long dark corridor seemed to stretch on forever, and from where she was sitting, she couldn't see any end to it. Once again, she felt the overwhelming temptation to just stay down and just let whatever happened happen. In the end, the odds of her escaping were nonexistent, and now that she had just killed two men, she doubted that even one person would understand and show her any kind of mercy.

She looked over to the hatch beside her. It was a wide trash chute, large enough for a human to fit through easily, but she had no desire to throw herself into the garbage. Instead, she eyed a vent just across from her. It was the perfect kind of place for her to roll if she had her morphball, but even though she didn't, she could still crawl through it. She doubted her legs could handle walking much longer.

Using every ounce of her will, she made herself lean forward and began to crawl toward the low vent, focusing intently on each move she made. She was almost there when she heard a door open suddenly back the way she had come. Samus didn't have any time to register what was happening before an explosive orange blast shot out, narrowly missing her as it made contact with ground.

She could feel the heat of the blast on her skin as she looked up and over to where it had come from. Her heart started beating dangerously fast again and her arms nearly gave out when she recognized the figure running straight for her.

_Not again!_ she thought, her mind racing with terror at the sight of the being running toward her. _Another clone? An SA-X? Ruth?_

It wasn't the SA-X, at least not one like the sort she had run into on the BSL. This one seemed smaller somehow and only wore the basic blue and yellow armor of the Fusion Suit. Still, whatever this thing was, it was running full speed toward her, and but for its horrible aim, she would have been dead by now.

Knowing she lacked the strength, speed, and firepower to take it on, Samus could only hope that this new clone's aim was indicative of its experience level. As it raised its arm cannon to fire another blast, Samus took her pulse rifle and aimed it straight at the normal beam shot racing toward her.

The two blasts made contact and exploded midair, halfway between Samus and the new clone. Smoke quickly filled the little corridor, making it difficult to breathe or see. Luckily, Samus knew exactly where the vent was and rolled backwards from it toward the trash chute.

The vent would be the most logical place for someone in her condition to go. Samus knew that even a clone would be smart enough to figure that out. So, she couldn't do what was logical.

Instead, she pulled the lever on the side of the trash chute, and as the doors opened, she shot her rifle straight at the vent, blowing it clean off the wall and masking the sound of the garbage chute as she threw herself down it and let the doors close behind her. With any luck, the clone would notice the open air vent and try to chase her through there just long enough for her to get a head start on escaping.

_With my luck,_ Samus thought as she tumbled into the chute, _I'll land on some broken glass or impale myself on something._

Fortunately, her luck seemed to be on the upswing, if only for a moment, and she landed in a relatively soft pile of trash. It must have been a lot of organic material because it had that horrible rotting death smell, but she was just thankful to have something other than sharp rocks or rusty metal break her fall.

Samus closed her eyes as she lay back on the pile of what she hoped wasn't some kind of bioweapon dung. Once again, she forced her breathing to slow as she felt her heart rate. Her chest was tight, and every muscle in her body was trembling. She felt like she was on the verge of passing out again, only conscious out of pure stubbornness.

When at last she opened her eyes and looked around, she saw that she was in the type of room used for trash compaction. If she stayed in one place long enough, it would crush her up into almost nothing, such a small bit it would be impossible for the Federation to find her remains and keep using her for their experimentations. She found herself actually considering the option before she came to her senses and forced herself to sit up. Suicide via trash compactor was not the answer. She didn't know what the answer was, but she was certain it wasn't that.

_If I ever get out of here,_ she thought before rebuking herself by biting her tongue. _When I get out of here, I'm making an appointment with my damn shrink. Clearly I need my head examined again if I'm even thinking like this._

She couldn't stand up to walk on the slippery trash, so instead she crawled toward the emergency door sanitation workers entered and exited through in case they needed to retrieve something important from the trash. It was not locked from the inside since it was a relatively common practice to assume that if there was someone trying to get out of a trash compactor, the odds were pretty good that they should not have been in there in the first place.

Fortunately, there was also no one guarding the garbage. Given the fact that there were only two soldiers watching her cell, Samus figured they must have been running on a skeleton crew, so it made sense that they couldn't spare anyone to watch a pile of trash.

On solid ground once more, Samus managed to get to her feet and began walking forward. She still had no idea where she was going, but she figured the more distance she could put between herself and that SA-X wannabe, the better off she was.

She managed to make it a surprising distance without falling, although she did have to lean against the wall every now and then to catch her breath. Being this weak had gotten old a long time ago and she was ready to be done with this running and hiding bit. She pulled angrily on her collar, irritated when it wouldn't so much as crack or budge. After a while she stopped messing with it, not wanting to receive another shock, which she was certain would send her crashing to the ground once more.

It felt like hours had passed as she continued to traverse the halls. Every now and then, she would hear a sound and try to find something to hide behind, but she never ran into any other people. Whatever was going on here was clearly a very undercover sort of operation, most likely one the rest of Federation didn't know about.

As she continued on her way, Samus stopped suddenly. She could hear the rhythmic footsteps of someone's armored boots walking across the metal floor. Fortunately, she was able to duck behind an oxygen shaft as the footsteps came closer.

Then she heard a muffled voice in the distance, and she held her breath as the footsteps stopped abruptly.

At first, she couldn't make out what the voice was saying, but it started to sound familiar, and her eyes grew wide as it got closer to her and the armored figure.

"—so happy to see you, Samus!"

Dropping her cover, Samus forced herself out of hiding, pulse rifle at the ready as she hurried as quickly as she could toward the source of the sound.

It came into view as she was reaching for the trigger, the creature she had heard. The one she had run from. She barely had time to aim as she opened fire on the clone in the Fusion Suit, right as it was raising its arm cannon toward Elisa.

It shrieked as the rifle shots hit it, and Elisa froze where she was, staring in horror past the armored figure and looking at Samus.

"ELISA, RUN!" Samus yelled as the clone whirled around and began to charge at the mercenary.

Knowing it wouldn't be enough but that she didn't have any other options, Samus stood her ground, opened fire once more, and braced herself for the fight of her life.


	38. Chapter 38: The Crucible

Samus stood her ground. Her arms were trembling so badly as she fired the pulse rifle that she didn't have her usual accuracy. But she was close enough. Nearly all of the shots hit their mark dead-on.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

The rain of rifle-fire barely phased the Fusion-Suit-clad clone as it advanced toward her, cannon raised and ready. Even though it seemed futile, Samus met its beam-fire with more shots from the rifle. Anything to buy time for Elisa to escape.

Her efforts were short-lived. It only took a few seconds for the clone to land a direct hit on the armor of her broken leg, sending the mercenary crashing to the ground as she cried out. Samus closed her eyes and grit her teeth as the unbearable pain seared through her leg. The pulse rifle lay forgotten beside her as she balled her fists together and tried to summon the will to get up and move.

She never made it, however, because before she could even begin to lift her body, the heavy boot of the clone found its way onto her leg and dug its heel right into the most severe of the fractures. All Samus could do was let out a strangled scream as it mockingly displayed its dominance over the defeated bounty hunter.

"You're pathetic," the armored figure said in a voice so shockingly familiar that Samus's eyes shot open.

"R-Ruth?" she muttered weakly as she stared up at the clone.

The figure hesitated for a moment but didn't get the chance to answer before something struck it dead in its back and exploded.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!" Elisa shouted from across the room, the high-powered plasma rifle still smoking as she held it pointed at the clone. "WHY DON'T YOU PICK ON SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY FIGHT BACK YOU COWARDLY PIECE OF SHIT?"

"NO!" Samus screamed as the figure turned to face her wife. The mercenary even tried grabbing one of its ankles, but it kicked her off easily. In a fit of panic, she groped at the ground trying to drag herself to the forgotten pulse rifle. "ELISA, RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"

But Elisa didn't move. Instead, she lined up the clone in her sights and sent off shot after shot of plasma, each blast hitting it dead center in the chest. The officer's masterful marksmanship was quickly becoming too much for her foe, but rather than retreat, the clone simply fired back.

A slew of power beam shots flew toward Elisa, but she nimbly dodged out of the way before sending back her own series of blasts. She may not have possessed any Chozo armor or genetic modifications, but nine years on the police force and five years with Samus had paid off. Most of her shots hit the clone as it struggled to gather its bearings. Again, it tried pointing the arm cannon and firing at her, but it was slow and seemed to lack full command of its weaponry. Elisa barely had to put any effort into evading the shots.

For a while, it looked like the human woman actually had the upper hand in the fight as she mercilessly showered the armored figure with plasma shots, but her luck didn't hold out. Eventually, she pulled the trigger only to hear a hollow clicking sound; she was out of ammo.

"ELISA!" Samus screamed as the armored clone unleashed a spray of power beam blasts, a few of them hitting their mark as Elisa was thrown backwards into a wall.

The bounty hunter pawed at the pulse rifle that had fallen out of her reach, eventually grabbing the attached strap and pulling it close to herself. She awkwardly fumbled as she tried to get a good angle to shoot it, but she never got the chance. No longer interested in Elisa, the clone turned back to Samus and shot the rifle right out of her hands.

"You bitch," the clone said in a voice that was unmistakably that of Ruth. "You fucking shot me in the back. You _murdered_ me."

Samus glared defiantly up at Ruth. "I'd do it again."

"I know you would." She stared at Samus through the opaque visor of the Fusion Suit. "But you can't." She pointed the nose of the arm cannon right between Samus's eyes, just inches away from the bounty hunter's face, so close Samus could smell the burnt remnants of the most recent shots. "How does it feel to be on the other side of this cannon for once? To be helpless and have someone hold a gun to your head? To threaten your life like you did to mine when you came into my room and abducted me?"

Samus was silent as she glared at her clone.

"I hate you, Samus Aran." Ruth stared at the defeated warrior. "I hate that every time I look in the mirror from now on I have to see your face. I hate that I will never be able to go home to my husband and my children because I got stuck in the body of a psychopathic mass murderer and a traitor to the Federation."

With an angry grunt, Ruth drew back her cannon like she was getting ready to smack Samus upside the head with it. The bounty hunter flinched and closed her eyes as she braced for impact.

But it never came. As Samus looked back at Ruth, she saw something she almost couldn't believe. Ruth's arm cannon seemed to be frozen in midair, just inches from Samus's skull. Most amazingly, the clone seemed to be fighting against some invisible force, completely unable to move her arm.

Ruth grunted in frustration as Samus looked past her to see another person standing beside Elisa. This figure was thinner and slightly shorter, but it was wearing the same basic black armor that Elisa was. This figure, however, was staring at Ruth, locked into an almost hypnotic gaze as it focused intently on the struggling clone.

"C-Calline?" Samus muttered more to herself than anyone else.

As Calline held Ruth's arm in her telekinetic grasp, Elisa grabbed the electric-pulse rifle that had been strapped to the girl's back and began firing at Ruth.

The clone writhed and cried out each time the white and purple energy beams hit her. With her arm held in the psychic lock, she couldn't move much or return fire. Ruth was a sitting duck as Elisa rained shot after shot of electric-beam energy at her struggling form.

But Calline couldn't keep up her psychic hold forever, and as her grip began to weaken, Ruth wrenched her arm free. Despite the rapid fire of Elisa's rifle, Ruth managed to aim her cannon at Calline and let off a stream of three consecutive missiles.

So distracted trying to use her powers on the clone, Calline didn't realize what was coming for her until it was too late. One by one, the missiles struck the girl directly in the chest. The first knocked out the shielding on her armor, and the second one broke through the physical armor as though it were an eggshell. Finally, the last missile hit exactly where the first two had cleared a path, and as it pierced her, it exploded halfway through her body until all that came out the other side was a pile of smoking shrapnel.

"NO!" Samus screamed helplessly as agonizing rage flooded her.

Calline's hollowed out body hit the ground with a wet thud as Samus, Elisa, and even Ruth stared on in horror. The clone nervously took a step backward from the girl she had just killed, nearly stepping on Samus in the process.

"What the fuck did you just do?" Elisa shouted, glaring at the very bewildered clone. "What did you just do? She was a child! You killed a fucking child!"

"Shut up!" Ruth roared as she sent another missile flying at Elisa.

The officer barely had time to dodge as it exploded beside her, throwing her to the ground in the process.

Seething with fury, Samus growled. She didn't care about the consequences anymore, and as she tried to activate her power suit, the collar sent another painful shock through her body. Her strength gave out as her face smacked into the floor, her entire form going limp.

"Pathetic," Ruth said, looking down at the bounty hunter before delivering another swift kick to the woman's chest. "You're a real glutton for punishment, aren't you? Shocking yourself at this point?"

But Samus's eyes had gone blind with rage. She was seeing red and hardly felt it as Ruth's boot slammed into her ribs a couple more times. Barely conscious, her heart was beating dangerously quickly as her muscles became tense and rigid. Again, she tried to activate the power suit only to be met with a painful electrical shock from the collar.

But she didn't stop. She focused all of her will on activating her suit as the electricity flowed into her, and she absorbed it all. Like a Metroid, she focused all of her strength on syphoning the energy from the collar even though it felt like it was tearing through her body, burning her from the inside out.

As Ruth's boot came to deliver another kick to her chest, Samus absorbed the blow and latched onto it using all of her stretch. Channeling the energy she had just absorbed from the collar, she forced it into Ruth's armor.

"What the hell?" Ruth yelled as the energy shot through her leg from where Samus was grabbing her, and as the armor suddenly began to falter, she found herself down on the ground beside Samus.

But the bounty hunter was not content merely dragging her foe to the ground. Clutching at her wildly, Samus dragged her body on top of Ruth's, still pulling the energy from the collar as it electrocuted her and forcing it into the struggling Ruth. Green and blue bolts of lightning exploded around the two combatants as Ruth's visor went dark and her armor began to flicker in and out of existence.

When at last the collar seemed to run out of power, Samus let out a primal howl and looked down at the woman beneath her. Ruth, now armorless, stared up at her with terror in her eyes. The bounty hunter was a frightening sight to behold, her eyes wild and no longer seeing what was in front of them. Bloody, burned, and beaten up, she looked like a monster as she stared down at Ruth, her lips curling back to reveal her fangs. Before the clone could do anything to protect herself, Samus lunged at her throat and bit down hard.

Ruth screamed as Samus began sucking the life force from her. She tried struggling and kicking at the bounty hunter, but she was so scared and disoriented, her attempts were completely ineffective.

As Samus feasted on her clone's energy, her clawed hand reached up, grabbing the collar around her neck and crushing it. She pulled it off and dropped it to the ground.

Even as she fed on Ruth's life force, however, she could feel the energy from the collar still mixed within it. As she tried to activate the power suit once more, it send painful, sharp jolts through her chest, but Samus ignored them. Focusing every ounce of her will and summoning all of her remaining strength, Samus tried once more to activate the suit.

She could feel it, the familiar rush of energy through her body as the armor began to materialize, but there was something different about it this time. As it radiated out from her chest, she was gripped by a deep pain, and as it began to take form around her body, she felt her skin burning everywhere the armor touched.

Enveloped in the light of the materializing power suit, Samus somehow managed to push herself off of Ruth's body as she staggered to her feet. She was barely aware of what was going on, but as the light faded, she heard Elisa gasp. She turned to look at her wife as messages flashed across her HUD warning her that her heart rate and blood pressure were too high and her vitals were dangerously unstable.

"S-Samus?" Elisa asked, taking a step toward her.

Samus looked down to where a trembling Ruth lay at her feet, looking up at her. As the bounty hunter surveyed her body, she realized her suit looked very different.

The areas that had been yellow were now a brassy color, and the organic orange layer had become a deep bronze. Her helmet was different as well, the red giving way to a dark maroon. It looked like her entire suit had been burned and become a dark, muted, almost metallic-looking version of its former self. But the arm cannon was the same, and that's all Samus was concerned with as she pointed it between Ruth's eyes.

"To answer your earlier question," the bounty hunter said in a deep monotone, "you're not the first one to point this cannon at me. And you're not the first person who was too stupid to kill me when you had the chance. I don't know who you are or who you were before you ended up looking like me, and frankly I don't give a fuck. I gave you a chance to live days ago and you shot me and got me captured by those sick fucks who kept me in a cage and thought they had license to do whatever they wanted with me while I couldn't fight back."

Samus switched from her power beam to her missiles, and the front of her cannon expanded to make way for the projectile. "But none of that matters. You killed Calline. You killed a child. And then you shot fucking missiles at my wife! Maybe if you had just stuck to attacking me, I would have let you live. But what you did… I don't care who you are or if you're just some poor victim of Harper's sick plan. What you did was unforgivable."

Ruth opened her mouth and reached toward Samus in a final plea, but the missiles shot forth from the cannon, exploding upon impact and killing her instantly. Not wanting the clone resurrected a second time, the mercenary switched to her plasma beam and incinerated the body out of existence, firing repeatedly until there was nothing left but ash where the woman had once been. And even then she didn't stop.

"Samus," Elisa called, walking up to the bounty hunter and slowly reaching out to touch her arm.

At first, Samus seemed not to notice her presence, but as soon as her wife's fingers made contact with her arm, she froze, ceasing her fire and staring down at the charred remains.

"It's okay," Elisa said gently, trying to coax the mercenary back into reality. "It's okay, Samus. I'm here. I'm safe now. You saved me, and she's gone for good."

The bounty hunter stayed still as she looked down at what she had done. Eventually she looked over to where the remains of Calline lay, but she couldn't look at them long. Samus made a pained noise as she turned away and slowly fell into Elisa's arms.

The armored officer caught her wife and slowly helped her down to the ground. Choked sobs escaped from Samus's throat as her chest heaved up and down. Elisa sat and pulled her close, cradling the mercenary's torso as she leaned heavily into her shoulder and cried. Gently petting her back through the power suit, Elisa just held and comforted her lover as she sobbed into her. Whatever had happened in the past few days had truly done a number on Samus, and even though she wanted to cry as well, Elisa held strong and just let the bounty hunter lean on her for a while.

Eventually, the officer nuzzled her helmet into Samus's and kissed her as best she could through the barriers.

"We need to get you back to the ship, Love," she said gently.

Samus sat back and slowly turned to look at her. "Harper might still be here. The Zero Lab… and the experiments. I have my weapons back. I need to destroy them all."

Elisa pulled her close before gently supporting her as the mercenary struggled to get to her feet. "You need food, fresh water… you're too badly injured to go back into battle right now. Let me take care of you, Love."

Samus was too exhausted to fight back, and even she recognized that Elisa was right and she was in no condition to return to battle, suit or no suit. "Fine," she replied in her detached monotone. "Food and water. Then battle."

Elisa sighed and shook her head. "I have a feeling you may also benefit from a band-aid or two, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Gently, she took Samus by the hand that wasn't a cannon and let her lean on her shoulder as she guided the mercenary back toward the ship. They had only gone a few meters when the voice of the Adam AI suddenly came into Elisa's earpiece.

"Officer Rodriguez," the computer said almost frantically, "you need to get back to the ship immediately. I've just received intel that there is a fleet of rogue Federation Marine ships on their way to take out the _Arcadia_ and make the first strike of what could very well be a full-out civil war. Army ships are on their way into to oppose them. We need to evacuate immediately."

"Hold on, Adam," the officer replied as Samus glanced over at her curiously. "I've got Samus with me. Tell Chance to ready the medical bay. We should be back there within the next ten minutes."

"Understood. Hurry back."

Elisa shook her head and looked over to Samus. "We need to hurry, Love. Sounds like Dane may have mobilized his troops."

The bounty hunter didn't say anything and just let Elisa continue to lead them back toward the ship. Her lack of protest against leaving the _Arcadia_ prematurely concerned Elisa, but she took it as a sign that she was making the right call by prioritizing Samus's medical treatment over the mission. She didn't know what had happened while the mercenary had been held prisoner, but Samus looked like she had been through hell several times over.

As they boarded the ship, Chance was waiting for them in the medical bay with the etecoons and dachoras.

"Where's Calline?" he asked but fell silent as Elisa just shook her head.

Samus deactivated her armor but nearly lost consciousness as she instantly collapsed. Fortunately, Elisa, Chance, and the dachora were able to catch her before she fell all the way to the ground. Together, they helped her onto the medical table. As she lay down for the exam, she closed her eyes and finally fainted.

Elisa gently brushed a lock of matted hair off of her lover's face and kissed her forehead. "It's all right now, Love. You're safe. We won't let anything happen to you."

As Chance tended to Samus's extensive injuries, Elisa just stayed close by, gently running her fingers through her partner's hair and trying to assess the situation without actively asking Chance and interrupting his exam. As Adam pulled the small gunship away from the _Arcadia_ and took off into hyperspace, Elisa finally allowed herself to step away from Samus.

Heading into the cockpit, she used the pretense of changing out of her armor as she locked the door behind her. In actuality, she just wanted to be alone. Ignoring the fact that the AI would easily figure out what she was doing, Elisa took off her helmet and allowed herself to cry. She didn't just cry over Calline or about the state in which she had found Samus.

Though she cried for all of those reasons, the vast majority of her tears were the happy tears of relief. Samus was alive. Badly hurt, but alive nonetheless.

And that was all that mattered to her. She could sort out the rest of the details later.


	39. Chapter 39: Awake

There was a soft beeping in the distance and the sound of someone breathing. She couldn't make out who it was. Everything felt fuzzy as she lay in a half-sleeping daze, slowly awakening.

Samus's eyes fluttered open as the room slowly came into focus. It took a while to be able to see properly and even longer to realize she had no idea where she was. Still, it did not alarm her as much as it usually would. There was a warm sensation flowing through her body that was oddly soothing, and though she was aware that she was in pain, it had no edge to it.

A few attempts at moving revealed her limbs were stiff and heavy, and her arms felt trapped under something. Glancing down, it took her a foggy moment to realize she was covered in a blanket and tucked snuggly into a bed. Pulling her arms out, she realized there was a series of tubes running into the right one and looked up to see an IV drip.

Her first thought was that they had captured her again and she was in someone's lab, but that fear died down once she remembered that she was neither bound nor did she seem to be confined. She had also ended up in emergency rooms enough times to know what it felt like to be on heavy doses of pain medication. The less-than-gentle folks on the _Arcadia_ would not have provided her with this small kindness.

On one hand, it bothered her that her senses had been dulled considerably by the medication, but on the other hand, she was thankful for it. Her battles were starting to come back to her now, and most of what she could remember was the extreme level of fatigue and the searing pain throughout her body. Most notably her left leg.

Samus thought about it for a moment and realized she couldn't feel the left leg at all at the moment. She hoped that it was just a sign that the doctors had given her something to block the nerves so she wouldn't be in pain. She didn't want to think of the alternatives.

This was the second time in too short of a span that something had laid her ass out and she had woken up in a hospital. At least this time, she mused to herself, she had actually sort of won the battle and she didn't have to deal with the shame of knowing she had been brought to the brink of death by some flying jelly.

Roughly five minutes passed before she remembered that she had woken up to the sounds of someone breathing, and the bounty hunter lolled her head over to look at the chair beside her. Her vision was still going in and out of focus so it took her a while to recognize Elisa was asleep sitting up, her neck bent awkwardly to one side. She looked exhausted, but Samus was certain her wife must have looked better than however she did at the moment.

"Hey" she said weakly, her voice hoarse and broken. "Elisa, hey. Wake up."

Elisa stirred slightly and grunted but didn't open her eyes.

"Hey! Elisa!" she tried again with a little more force behind her voice.

Slowly, Elisa began to move and opened her eyes as she sat up and stretched.

"S-Samus?" She looked genuinely surprised, much to the bounty hunter's confusion. "You're awake? Are you all right? Are you in pain?"

Samus's grin was lopsided as she chuckled. "I think if anything, the doctors here were a bit overzealous in making sure I'm not in pain."

A look of relief washed over Elisa's features, softening her look of exhaustion. "You're not in any pain?"

Samus shook her head as best she could. "I didn't say that. Everything that I can feel hurts but… I mean I feel cold and terrible but considerably more comfortable that I would have expected to wake up after that beating I took."

Elisa closed her eyes and nodded, looking like she was about to cry. "I'm so happy… I'm so thankful you woke up…"

"Was there ever any question?"

Elisa stared quietly at her for a moment as though trying to figure out how to respond. "There were complications…"

Alarm bells went off in Samus's head as she stared at her wife and began trying to run a mental check of every part of her body that she could still feel. "What kind of complications?"

"Nothing too awful," Elisa attempted to back peddle as she saw Samus's heart rate begin to spike on the monitor. "Not now that you've woken up anyway… Your leg was badly broken. _Badly_ broken. You've had two surgeries in the past week."

"The past week?" Samus's eyes grew wide. She couldn't remember any of that. She must have been in an actual coma.

Elisa just nodded. "They think the outcomes were pretty good given the circumstances, and they were able to save your leg." Samus's anxiety seemed to calm a little at that, so Elisa continued. "The other problems… I'm not sure they know exactly what to do about them. But the good news, and I mean it… this is good news. The good news is there was not too much permanent damage and they were able to stabilize it with medication."

"Stabilize what?" Samus demanded. "What kind of permanent damage?"

"Well, Love," Elisa said as she gently took one of Samus's hands in her own. "It seems whatever was in that green and blue energy stuff, the stuff they were using to control you… well, absorbing as much of it as you did and getting shocked like that…. You had a mild heart attack."

Samus was dumbstruck. She didn't know what to say to that. It seemed like such an alien concept to her. Physical injuries she understood. She was used to them. But a heart attack seemed too random to be real. Like the sort of thing she knew could happen to people but not to people who were Samus Aran.

"H-how?"

"Well," Elisa said with a sigh, "we were on your ship pulling away from the _Arcadia_. I thought we were home free. You had fallen unconscious, and Chance was treating you in the medical bay, but something went wrong. I heard him cry out and rushed in to learn you had gone into cardiac arrest. The stress from that last battle and whatever that energy was that you absorbed… I guess it just took a toll on you."

Samus closed her eyes and tried to think back to the battle. She had been having issues with chest pain and being short of breath ever since she had woken up in the prison cell, but she had assumed that it was just anxiety and her general weakness following her defeat. Then again, Elisa and Adam had been getting onto her about her high blood pressure for years now. At least, Adam had been before he died.

"You've been in a coma for two weeks," Elisa said. She frowned. "I know that's how you heal best and its natural for you to some extent but… I guess we really didn't know if you were going to wake up this time. You were in really bad shape when we got here."

Samus tilted her head to the side curiously and felt the world slide along with her. Her vision had some lag to it. "Where are we exactly?"

"One of the Marine stations. It has a top of the line medical facility and the best security out there." Elisa gently brushed a lock of hair off of Samus's forehead. "We had no choice. We had to get somewhere as quickly as possible. It was a gamble going to a Federation Marine ship, but Adam said that they were on our side. They had launched a full-scale attack on the Federation Army ships in the area. So we took the chance and so far, it's paid off. You're alive."

"But am I under arrest?"

Elisa shook her head. "Not at this point, but I think you being alive is the most important thing right now. Admiral Dane is here as well, and I'm sure he wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"Elisa," Samus said quietly, "if the Marines attacked the Army, that means a full-scale civil war."

The officer nodded solemnly. "There have already been heavy casualties on both sides. The good news is that they managed to blow up the _Arcadia._ "

"And the bad news?"

"Harper and Renpo escaped. We don't know where they are."

Samus closed her eyes. She could feel her chest starting to tighten again as she thought about Harper. The General was still out there somewhere, and their last encounter was still fresh in her mind.

"How are you feeling, Love?" Elisa asked and placed a kiss on her forehead.

Samus opened her eyes and studied her lover's face. "Exhausted. Like I just got hit by a truck. And maybe more than a little bit stoned…"

Elisa smiled. "That last part means the meds are working."

"As happy for that as I am, it's going to make it very difficult to coordinate with Dane for our next attack."

"Stop that." Elisa shook her head. "Samus Rhonda Aran, you are in no condition to meet with anyone right now. Don't even think about trying to go back to work in your condition. You can't even walk."

Samus looked around the room but her vision was still lagging and it made her dizzy. "No crutches around here?"

"No, and no wheelchair either. You're not getting out of this room until we get a doctor to give you the all clear, and believe me, that won't happen any time soon."

Samus sighed but didn't put up any resistance. "Okay. You're right. I'm still hurt and it's going to be a while before I recover my strength."

Elisa raised an eyebrow. "You're agreeing with me? What are you planning?"

"Nothing. Just really feeling it after that last battle." Samus tried to sit up but winced as pain shot through her. "I'm not twenty-five years old anymore, Dear. I can appreciate having some time to rest and recover after getting my ass kicked. And truth be told, finding out I had a heart attack, even a mild one, is terrifying."

"Huh." Elisa smiled softly. "Maybe you are finally learning the art of self-care."

Samus smiled as well.

"I suppose I should go tell Admiral Dane you're awake," Elisa said.

"Sounds like a good idea. I just have one request before you go."

"Anything, Love."

"Would you send in the etecoons and dachoras if they are here? I noticed them on my ship but didn't get the chance for a proper reunion before I passed out."

Elisa laughed. "That was not what I was expecting you to ask for, but sure. I can send them in."

"Thank you, Dear."

The officer leaned down as she in the bounty hunter shared a slow, passionate kiss. As she pulled away, her cheeks were rosier than they had been before, and she suddenly looked a lot less exhausted. "It's no problem, Love."

Slowly, Elisa backed away from Samus's bed before turning to go out the door, leaving the bounty hunter alone with her thoughts. Still trying to get a clear picture in her mind of what had happened to lead up to her coma, Samus fidgeted with a plastic bracelet around her left wrist. Upon closer examination, she saw it read "Fall Risk" and another bracelet beside it said she had an extreme sensitivity to cold. She wanted to pull both of them off but thought better of it.

The tubes going into her right arm were another story. It didn't take her long to pull out each of them before grabbing a wad of tissues from her beside table and pressing them to her arm to stop the bleeding. She was pleasantly surprised to find they must have gotten her back on medication to neutralize the acid in her blood since it did not burn through the tissues or the tubes. On one hand, it was good to know she had access to adequate medical care for once, but on the other, her acidic blood had been a very useful weapon in recent battles and being without it frightened her.

Attached to her chest was a heart monitor, and she hesitated before pulling that one off. The idea that she had had a heart attack, even a small one, was terrifying. It had never occurred to her that she might be harmed by something failing inside of her body. She had always assumed she would die in battle, struck down by some stronger or faster creature. The idea that her own mortality might lie in something within her, something she could not fight with guns or bombs, that was a truly sobering and haunting thought.

Eventually she pulled off the monitor as well and punched the computer it was attached to when the alarm started going off. It crashed to the floor and flickered silently as Samus watched it from over the side of her bed. She really didn't feel like listening to it go off or dealing with a bunch of nurses rushing in to see what was wrong. She had never been particularly fond of hospitals even when she had been able to pass as a full human. Now it was even worse with people staring at her like she was some kind of experiment that had gone wrong.

It was not long before she heard a soft knock on the door to her room and saw the dachora poking her head through. The etecoons had stood one on top of the other so the top one could reach the doorknob, and they jumped down from each other's backs before entering her room. They moved quietly and solemnly as though she were still in a coma despite the fact that she was staring at them with one eyebrow raised questioningly.

 _"Greetings, Hatchling,"_ the dachora said to her in Chozo. Her chick stood beside her, a full six inches taller than the last time Samus had seen it.

 _"Greetings,"_ the hunter replied. _"I'm sorry if my healing coma scared anyone. I was in rather terrible shape and suppose I slipped in a little deeper than I had intended to."_

The dachora tilted her head to the side. _"Broken heart."_

Samus's fingers went instinctively to her chest, brushing the scar tissue from when Renpo had opened her chest to try to access her suit and the sticky remnants of the glue from the heart monitor. _"Not broken. Just a little banged up. Like the rest of me."_

She tried to laugh but it came out hollow and half-strangled.

 _"I need a favor,"_ Samus said after a moment. _"Elisa is basically holding me prisoner in here until I heal. I need to bust out of here and find a way to meet with Admiral Dane and get the latest information on the developing civil war and Harper's last known location. There won't be any chance for peace until someone finds that bitch and rips her throat out."_

The dachora seemed taken aback as she stared at Samus. _"Hatchling weak."_

 _"I know,"_ Samus grunted. _"That's why I need your help. One of my legs is fucked up beyond all recognition at this point so I won't be able to put any weight on that."_ She looked at the lifeless limb beneath the sheets, still too nervous to pull them back and inspect the damage. _"I know this is a bit unconventional, but do you think you could maybe give me a ride to wherever Dane is at?"_

The dachora craned her long neck in surprise as she stared at Samus with wide, purple eyes. _"Ride on back?"_

_"Do you think you can do it? I'm heavy…"_

The dachora puffed out her chest proudly. _"Strong bird. Hatchling ride."_

Samus grinned as the tall avian creature strode toward her and waited beside her bed. The bounty hunter still was not able to move well given how long she had been out and the amount of drugs the hospital had given her. Without her asking, the etecoons rushed in to help her maneuver onto the dachora's back. It was a long and ridiculous-looking process, but eventually the bounty hunter was seated upon her avian steed, legs dangling on either side as she held tight to its neck.

She decided it was time to look at the numb left leg now, and she was pleasantly surprised to find it was not nearly as bad as she had thought. It was still dark from the heavy bruising and burst blood vessels, but it was in a long black cast that contoured to her body almost perfectly like armor. There were built in hydraulics systems and a knee joint, and she wondered if the intent was that she would eventually be able to use this device to help her walk while the leg healed. At the moment, however, it was useless as the nerves seemed completely blocked.

Samus felt a bit silly as she rode into the hallways on the dachora's back, dressed only in a white cotton nightgown. But then again, Samus was not afraid of looking silly if it meant getting the job done, and she didn't let it distract her as she rode off down the hall, hoping the animals had some clue where Admiral Dane might be. She wondered vaguely if she had not been feeling so loopy from the pain medication if she would even have considered this plan, but she quickly lost track of that train of thought.

They didn't get far before Samus spied the figure of a woman in the distance. She couldn't make out her identity at first, but she was walking toward the bounty hunter and her animal friends. Samus recognized her as soon as she heard her trying to stifle a laugh.

"Elisa?" Samus asked. "I thought you were going to talk to Admiral Dane or something?"

The officer shook her head, breaking into a full laugh now as she saw the bounty hunter wearing a nightgown and riding on a green ostrich. "I sent him an e-mail instead. I had a feeling I shouldn't leave you alone to your own devices while you were awake. I had a feeling you would try to sneak out of your room. I just wasn't expecting something… this _creative_."

Samus grinned lopsidedly. "You didn't leave me much of a choice, Dear. It was this or crawl, and you know how I am when it comes to crawling. I'd much rather just turn into a ball, and I didn't think you'd appreciate me rolling around like that. Someone could trip and then sue me for negligence and that would be bad…"

Elisa snorted. "Samus, you're high."

"I need to see Admiral Dane."

"Like this?" She gestured to the dachora. "Riding on your noble steed?"

"There's a civil war going on and I know a lot has happened since I passed out on my ship… I just need to find out everything!"

Elisa sighed. "Well, like I said. I sent the Admiral an e-mail. I was going to have him come to you in your room, but I guess now that you're mobile, we might as well head into one of the conference rooms. Although, after being in a coma for two weeks, I would think it would be in your best interests to see a doctor first. Which… I'm actually surprised you haven't yet. How did you stop the alarm from going off when you took off the heart monitor?"

"I punched it."

"Of course you did…" Elisa shook her head. "Let's get you back in bed and have a doctor come in and check you out. If they give you the all clear, I'll get you a wheelchair and chauffer you into a conference room myself. If not, we can have Admiral Dane come to you."

"Fair enough," Samus replied as she and the dachora turned to head back to their room.

Elisa and the etecoons followed alongside as Samus rode the dachora. When she made it back to her bed, they helped her back up into it, and Elisa pulled the blankets over her, tucking her in tight and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"I know this isn't ideal, Love," the officer said, crawling into bed beside Samus, "but you're safe now and healing. And we're together finally."

Samus smiled and rested her head on her wife's chest as Elisa's fingers cascaded gently through her hair. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Save for what happened to poor Calline…." She paused. "Are the others safe?"

Elisa nodded. "Morrigan and co are still back at Blackacre. Chance is here sharing a room with the animals. Hector and Abby are rooming together."

Samus's eyes grew wide. "Hector and Abby? They're here?"

"Yes, Love. Who do you think contacted Admiral Dane and helped conspire to launch the attack on the Army? Hector learned from the best how to get the job done, and Abby… well, that girl's got a brain in her head that would have given General Malkovich a run for his money."

"Adam… what about him?"

Elisa stared at her curiously. "Love, I know you've taken a few blows to the head since then, but two years ago, General Malkovich—"

"No, not that Adam! My Adam AI, the ship's computer. Where is he?"

Elisa closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to hold in another laugh. "Right, I keep forgetting that's actually Adam's mind. He's doing all right… but we had to rename him. He wasn't so keen on anyone finding out his identity, particularly not Abby, so he's been going by Larry now."

"Larry?"

Elisa nodded. "Yes, Love."

"Um… okay."

"Not what you expected?"

Samus shook her head. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I've been in a coma for two weeks on a Marine base, had a heart attack, and we're apparently in the middle of a civil war…"

Elisa smiled and kissed Samus on the head. "Not the middle so much as the end. It's been a bloody two weeks, but the Federation Army couldn't hold a candle to the Marines. We've taken control of seventy-five percent of their military bases already, and Chairman McKinnon is facing indictment for conspiracies in connection with the bioweapons ban. It's still going to be a trick to get thrown out of office or to force him to resign, but Admiral Dane is confident it'll happen in the not-too-distant future."

"Seems weirdly convenient," Samus muttered, a wave of tiredness rolling over her as she nestled into her lover's chest. "I'm not used to things happening like this... Normally if I get knocked out, I wake up to find that the world is burning and everyone is running around dying. Not waking up to find out people have made significant progress without me."

Elisa held her tighter. "You're not alone in this, Love. We've been on your side all along. The people you've saved and the Marines you've helped, none of us have forgotten that, even if the Army and the media have. We know you're not a criminal and we've known that all along. You've fought all of these years to protect us. Please, accept that we've been fighting too, right beside you. So when you fell, we stepped up. And it's been a hell of a fight, but we're making progress."

Samus turned to look at her wife, her iridescent blue-green eyes staring into Elisa's brown ones. She wasn't sure what to say to that. Since the moment she had decided to take the BSL and ram it into the surface of SR-388, she had assumed this fight was on her and her alone. Finding the Zero Host, destroying the bioweapons, taking down Harper, and trying to find a way to restore peace and balance in the Federation. Like so many of the missions she had taken during the Space Pirate War all those years ago, she had expected to shoulder this burden herself and push through everything until her body was physically incapable of moving another inch.

She had never expected for that moment to come or for anyone to step up in her hour of need and take that fight into their own hands, much less the most powerful branch of the Federation military. It touched her beyond words, and she found herself unable to speak.

"Just rest, Samus." Elisa stroked her lover's hair as she pressed the call button on the side of Samus's bed. "There's still a lot that needs to be done, but for right now, just rest. You've earned it, Love. So many times over."


	40. Chapter 40: A Little Relief

The red-haired man on the holoscreen seemed stately standing there in his perfectly pressed suit. Despite the news he would deliver and what he would face after, he had a commanding calm about him, enough that one might have thought him a good leader had they not known otherwise.

Admiral Dane and his highest-ranking officers sat around a long conference table as they stared intently at the screen, all in their formal dress. Elisa, Samus, Hector, Abridgette, and Chance sat among their ranks as they watched the holoscreen with baited breath. They knew what was coming but would not dare believe it until they heard it with their own ears.

After a brief silence, the red haired man on the screen stepped toward the podium and stood behind it, squaring his shoulders perfectly in line with it as he looked out to the crowd.

"Citizens of the Galactic Federation, inhabitants of our colonies, and Aliens," he said in a deep voice, "you all know that there has been a lot of turmoil recently within our territories. Treason of the worst kind, distrust of your government, allegations against myself, and last, but certainly the worst of all, this terrible Civil War that has torn apart not only this united alliance, but also families. Members of differing species pitted against one another and even some pitted against those of their same blood. No one has been unaffected by this war.

"I stand before you today to address you as your Chairman one last time. Though this war has only raged these past six weeks, it has already taken a considerable toll in the form of lives, property, and in some cases, entire planets. The Galactic Federation cannot continue to exist if our own Armies are pitted against one another. A six-week war may sound like nothing after thirty years of war against the Space Pirates, but it is still six weeks too long. It needs to end.

"Also deeply troubling are the allegations coming against me now regarding my alleged ties to the Uranian party's illegal experimentations in bioweapon research before the ban was lifted. I've come under investigation for my work in pioneering the elite Federation Force program. Such allegations and investigations would compromise any Chairman's ability to lead, but particularly one trying to hold our shattered union together at a time of Civil War. Billions call for my impeachment.

"It is with a heavy heart that I say those calls shall be answered definitively. Today, before all the galaxy, I announce my resignation as your Chairman. As is outlined in our Articles, that power shall now fall to the Grand Council until such time as a new Chairman is elected.

"I hope my actions are enough to quell at least some of these tensions between our factions, for as my final action in office, I have called for this fighting to cease. Let the Federation be reborn from the ashes of this terrible war, however brief. Let us join together now, as one united Galactic Federation, and pray for a true peace in space."

There was silence for a moment in the conference room, but it did not last long.

"It's over!" Abby exclaimed as she grasped Hector's hand tightly in her own.

The young man was grinning as well as he looked up at the holoscreen, barely able to believe the words he had heard with his own ears. Finally, at long last, the war was over. It surprised him to think it had only taken the Marines six weeks to conquer all of the Army's bases and eventually overthrow its leadership. To him, it had felt like a lifetime.

There are a bit of cheering and a lot of congratulatory words flying between the Marine officers, with many of them paying their respects to Admiral Dane. Even if Chairman McKinnon's resignation did not mean the end of all of their struggles, it was certainly a valid milestone, and as things stood, it was unlikely that any more blood would be spilled in this war.

Only Samus, Elisa, and Chance were silent as they sat toward the back of the room. The two women held hands under the table, watching the others celebrate but more interested in each other. They knew that the fight was far from over. At this point, Samus was not naïve enough to believe there could ever be a "true peace" in space.

But this was still good for now, and even if they didn't join the others in celebrating, they could appreciate how far they had come.

"You're still holding the hand of an outlaw," Samus said softly to Elisa as she turned to look at her.

Elisa smiled. "Because I'm in love with that outlaw and would brave everything all over again if it meant I could stay by her side and keep holding her hand."

Samus tried to smile but couldn't quite bring herself to do so. It had been four weeks since she had awoken from her coma, and most of her injuries had healed. The bruising was no longer visible, and save for the stiff limp in her walk and the bracelet on her wrist, there were no signs that she had been in the condition she had.

Her leg had healed enough so that she could now don jeans and a short-sleeved turtleneck blouse, something she far preferred over the cotton nightgowns they had provided for her before she had been allowed to leave the hospital wing. But even she had to admit that getting the proper care and rest had done wonders for her health and spirit. Even now, though she thought the celebration was premature, she could not help but feel a little relief.

She had no doubt that the political types in their expensive business suits would find a way to move past this war into fighting over some lesser travesty that didn't involve a call to violence. The media would overhype whatever it was, and soon the galaxy would move on the same way they had after the Space Pirate War.

One thing still bothered Samus more than anything else. She had seen footage of the _Arcadia_ blowing up after some Marine fighter ships shot it up with plasma cannons. She had little doubt that most of the Zero Host project had been contained to that one ship given its questionably legal nature and the fact that only a handful of people knew about it. The idea that there were more beings with her DNA floating around in space bothered her, but she was certain they had gotten the worst of it. However, there was still no word on what had happened to Dr. Renpo and former Secretary of Defense Harper.

Samus supposed she should have been more bothered by the disappearance of Renpo given that the man had the most data about her powers out of anyone else in the galaxy, and he had even created a partially functional power suit for her clone to wear. Even if Ruth had lacked the skills to use it effectively, the point remained that he had built it, and that made him a danger to her.

But for some reason, Samus could not get herself worked up over Renpo's absence. She was more preoccupied with Harper. The woman's form haunted her nightmares, and images of waking up in that prison on the _Arcadia_ were all too common in her waking hours.

With her condition the way it had been since the first shots of the war had been fired, Samus had not been permitted to join the Marines in battle. She had been a sort of well-cared-for prisoner on the Marine base. The metal bracelet on her left arm contained all of her medical information and kept a close monitor on her heart, but it also contained an alarm that would sound should she try to leave the facilities. She was, after all, still an outlaw. Even her ship was outside of her boundaries.

The fact that the Marines had figuratively clipped Samus's wings didn't bother Elisa, Chance, or any of the others. They were more than happy to see the bounty hunter safe for a change and unable to do much that would make them worry. And though she hated the bracelet, Samus left it on her wrist knowing full well how easily she could burn through it with her acidic blood. This base was no better equipped to contain her than the dozens of enemy bases she had annihilated over the years, and she knew it. She had a feeling Dane knew it as well.

The Admiral had made a point of visiting her at least once a day while she was in the hospital. Once she had gotten out, he came a few times to see her in the small room she shared with Elisa and Chance. But after she had become more mobile, she would go to visit his office instead. She genuinely liked the man. He told her what was going on without sugarcoating any of it and he was always straight with her. It was a pleasant change from having all of the other's doting on her and walking on eggshells.

Not that she blamed them. She had awoken to her own blood-curling screams and cold sweats every night since she had come out of the coma. Elisa and Chance had been in the same room with her, but even Hector and Abby could hear her a few doors down. The etecoons and dachoras hadn't brought it up, but Samus knew they could hear her as well, especially the way the big dachora began fussing over her like a mother hen every time she tried to slip away and have some time alone.

"Attention, everyone," Admiral Dane called out suddenly, and the chatter hushed to near silence as all eyes in the room turned to him. "While the Chairman's resignation and call for a formal end to the war is undoubtedly worth celebrating, now is neither the time nor the place. We still have a lot of work to do. So everyone return now to your usual posts!"

Reluctantly, people did as they were told and began to shuffle out of the room one by one until only Samus, Elisa, and Chance remained sitting in the back. They did not have any posts to return to, and Samus wondered if it bothered Elisa as much as it bothered her. She hated feeling useless, and since she had arrived on this base, all she had done was take up space and valuable resources that might have been used to treat an actual soldier. She did not say any of this aloud, knowing the others would simply snap back at her that she was as worthwhile a use for such resources as anyone else.

"Shall we go, Love?" Elisa asked, giving Samus's hand a squeeze.

The bounty hunter just nodded as all three of them got to their feet. Samus's left leg was stiff, so she took a few seconds to stretch it out. It did not hurt much anymore, but it still was not what it had been before Xeno Ridley and the dragons had crushed it with their jaws. Given the severity of its fractures, all of the medical professionals on the base were shocked and amazed to see her standing up and even walking on it after they had originally insisted it would take at least a year to recover to this point. Samus had just smirked to herself, realizing none of these doctors had ever dealt with a patient who had augmented Chozo DNA.

"Easy," Elisa said before she could stop herself.

"I'm fine," Samus replied.

"I know. I'm sorry. I guess it's just a reflex."

The bounty hunter smiled as she held out her hand to Elisa and the other woman grasped it tightly. Although she hated people fussing over her, Samus had given in on one point. She had promised Elisa that whenever they were walking together, she would hold her hand. The reasoning they liked to pretend was behind it was that if Samus refused to use a cane or anything until her leg finished healing, she would at least be able to lean on Elisa if she needed to.

In reality, Samus had not needed to lean on her partner at all in over a week. But she still held her hand. Samus had not been the only one fighting her mental and emotional demons since the incident on the _Arcadia_. Elisa had never woken up screaming as Samus so often did, but Samus had often woken up to find that Elisa had snuck into bed with her in the middle of the night and would be curled up in a tense ball as she slept. This had been going on since Samus had been in the hospital wing and continued even now in their room with the three small beds.

Samus never pressed her partner with questions though. That would be counterproductive. Instead, she just gave her comfort when she could, knowing that when the time was right, Elisa would share what was on her mind. So at night she shared her narrow bed, and during the day she held her hand.

Chance was quiet as he walked through the halls with Samus and Elisa. There was an eerie, sterile feel to the Marine base's administrative building, and it made him uncomfortable. Just being around so many people in the Federation military, even if they were opposing the Federation, was disconcerting to him. He had not had this much contact with anyone like that since he had fled from the imperialists on Clio.

When they got back to the small room they shared, Samus and Elisa took a seat on Samus's bed while Chance sat on Elisa's bed. Elisa and Chance split a set of bunk beds with Chance on top while Samus had the single bed to herself. It was a dreary room with cinderblock walls and beds that looked like they had come straight out of an army barrack. The florescent lighting overhead did nothing to improve its mood.

"So," Chance asked, breaking the silence in the barren little room, "where do we go from here?"

"Presumably," Samus replied, holding Elisa close to her and stroking her dark hair, "I'll go to trial for my crimes. And then I'll probably end up in prison."

Elisa closed her eyes and rested her head on Samus's shoulder. She didn't want to think about being separated from the bounty hunter again.

"What's the alternative?" Chance asked, his tail twitching nervously.

"I become a fugitive again." Samus's face was stoic. "I am a criminal, Chance."

"But you saved the galaxy! It's not fair!"

"That will be for the courts to decide." Samus frowned. "I'm tired of running. At this point, I'm ready to tell my side of the story. If I'm convicted, then so be it. I've served and protected this galaxy for decades. I'm not going to run from it. Someone will understand. At least one of them must."

"So that's it?" Chance looked upset. "You're just going to turn yourself in? This was all for nothing?"

"No." Samus's tone contained a hint of irritation. "The Zero Host project has been dismantled and destroyed. The bioweapons ban is being reinstated. The entirety of Federation Force and Colonial Exploration Departments are under investigation and being gutted from the inside out. And now McKinnon and the Uranian Party are out of office. Not to mention, there are no more fucking X parasites. What more could you possibly want?"

"For you not to end up in prison," Elisa said as she rested against the mercenary's chest.

Samus leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I've been to prison before. I'll live."

"It'll be different now." Elisa nuzzled closer into her. "You'd be living amongst inmates you put in there."

"Only if I'm convicted."

Elisa sat up and stared at her. "What do you think the odds are that you'd be acquitted? You blew up a planet, Samus! Another one! A whole fucking planet! And there's no more evidence of the Metroid breeding program or the X parasites because you blew up the BSL too! Oh, and you slaughtered all of those experiments on the _Arcadia_ and reduced your clone to ashes! Not exactly useful as evidence even before the Marines blew the whole damn thing up!"

Samus's eyes shifted curiously. "I mean… to be fair, I've blown up a lot of planets. It's kind of what I do. Those researchers should have known that by hiring me to walk around with them and collect stuff for science, there was at least a twenty percent chance the planet would blow up."

"Not funny, Samus," Elisa said, but she was smiling.

"Besides," the bounty hunter continued with a devilish grin, "it's not like I destroyed _all_ of the evidence."

"Oh?" Elisa looked intrigued as Chance hopped over to join them on Samus's bed.

"Harper and Renpo are still unaccounted for. They're out there somewhere."

Elisa shook her head. "The Marines have combed every inch of Federation territory looking for them."

Samus grinned. "Then I won't look in Federation Territory. Don't forget, Dear. I _was_ a bounty hunter before I was a mercenary. Harper and Renpo don't know deep space half as well as I do. They're running around blind out there. And when I bring them in, they'll have to testify about the Zero Host project, the Metroids, and the X parasites. Or I'll kill them. Slowly."

The fur on Chance's tail stood up as she said the last part, and he knew she wasn't joking.

"Samus," Elisa said, "you're going to sneak out of here and go to your ship, aren't you?"

The mercenary nodded. "Once I get this bracelet off."

Elisa's eyes darted to the metal bracelet. "That won't take you any effort at all. I just… I know nothing I say is going to keep you here, and nothing good can come of you staying here so I guess all I can do is ask you… are you feeling up to it, Love?"

Samus nodded. "My leg might not be what it was before the _Arcadia_ , and I honestly don't know if it ever will be. But once my power suit integrates with my body, that won't matter. The suit's functions will compensate for it."

"And your heart?"

Samus shrugged. "It's a risk I'm willing to take. It hasn't had any major issues since I've been here. The attack was triggered by the energy from that Zero Beam collar. That won't be an issue now."

Elisa smiled, but her eyes were sad. "This is the part where I'm supposed to fuss at you to stay here and be safe and finish recovering, but honestly, the only thing you have to look forward to if you stay here is prison. So I won't bother with all that, under one condition."

"What's that, Dear?"

"You take me with you. And you let me watch as you make that bitch Harper beg for her life or eat hot plasma."

Samus's eyes narrowed as her face took on the harder features of her Hunter persona. "Why not both?"


	41. Chapter 41: Sometimes It's a Bitch

Flying out into deep space had been nearly as easy as burning off the bracelet monitor. Hunting down Harper had been more of a challenge, but Samus had been craving a good challenge. After having to stay put and watch the Marines fight without her for the past month, the mercenary was chomping at the bit to contribute her part to the war. She didn't care that it was theoretically over. So long as Harper and Renpo were out there, the galaxy would never be safe.

There was a part of her that questioned why she was still so set on protecting a galaxy that had turned its back on her after the BSL incident, but she figured the answer was irrelevant. She was the heir of the Chozo, and she had one job whether people respected her for it or not.

Getting back in the pilot's seat felt good after all this time, and Samus had thoroughly enjoyed the trip out to the desolate space station in the Gamma Quadrant. Even she had to admit it was a rather ingenious location for Harper's hideaway given the sheer amount of space junk and scrap ships that tended to float around in the local asteroid belt. Her scanners had almost missed it as it blended in with the rest of the space debris. But as she pulled her ship up to dock on the station, Samus had no doubt in her mind that this was where the former General was hiding, and she was ready to finish this nightmare one way or the other.

Samus stood as she passed control of the ship over to Adam and took one more look at her suit. There was something absolutely beautiful about seeing it like this. The "Crucible Suit," as she had taken to calling it, looked like a beautifully burned bronze and brass armor, but even more interesting was how hard and metallic the bronze layer had become. It had even grown thicker she discovered when she had activated it for the first time in six weeks. She did not want to get too excited, but it almost seemed like the bronze armor was trying to regenerate back into the pieces that had been amputated from her original power suit.

Of course, there was no way to tell yet and no reason to try to figure it out. She'd have plenty of time for that once she found Harper and cleared her name. And if she failed to do that, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Samus turned and left the cockpit and headed out into the medical bay, where she saw Elisa and Chance waiting for her.

"Are we here?" Elisa asked, staring out at Samus through the dark visor of her own black armor. She held a combination pulse rife-flamethrower as she watched the bounty hunter.

Samus nodded. "You're sure you want to come?"

"I'm not leaving you again."

The mercenary just nodded again and turned to Chance. He was the only one not in any kind of armor or carrying a weapon. Instead, he was dressed in one of his usual dresses with his tail coming from the slit in the back.

"If anything happens while we're gone," Samus said to the lemur, "get in contact with me immediately."

"Will do," he replied, standing up as straight as he could and trying to look attentive. He seemed very out of place on the war ship, but as he had pointed out back at the base, they had benefitted greatly last time from having a trained medic on board.

In Samus's mind, she owed him her life.

She and Elisa left Chance and walked through the depressurization chambers and to the platform. They waited for the ship to come to a complete stop before they rode up through the hatch and into space.

The ship had docked on the outside of the station on a loading platform, and Samus wasted no time jumping down and heading for one of the entrance hatches. Elisa was a bit slower but followed as close as she could behind her partner, rifle raised.

For Samus, raiding a space station like this was no big deal, but she moved with more caution than she normally would. She had Elisa to look out for now, and Harper was far more dangerous than any Space Pirate grunt that would normally be guarding this type of place. Her armor's integrity was decent enough, and with it integrated into her system, she was able to walk and run normally.

Her left leg would still be a major weak point if anyone knew to target it, but she was fairly certain Harper and Renpo would not know that. The suit was also monitoring her heart and vitals more closely than usual and sending the data back to her ship for Adam and Chance. She had been reluctant to do that, but it made Elisa feel better knowing there were a few extra sets of eyes watching out for her health.

Aside from the minor weakness in her bad leg, however, Samus felt fine. Better than she had in a long time and burning with the desire to end this once and for all. There was no way Harper would be escaping alive.

Samus shot open a hatch and ran through, pausing a moment in the pressure chamber before the next hatch opened and allowed the two women to go through. The space station was not in terrible shape, but it was old. They walked through rooms and halls with the standard steel plated floors and walls. There was little to no decoration or furnishing. The station was as bare bones as they came, empty enough to make even the _Arcadia_ look like a busy facility.

Every now and then they would come across a security drone or two that would shoot at them, but Samus made short work of them with a few well-aimed plasma shots. Her attacks were so efficient, Elisa was starting to feel like dead weight holding them back. It had been a long time since she had paused to marvel at how powerful Samus was at full strength, and she found herself wondering why she had insisted on coming along.

Samus's HUD had picked up a few energy signatures when they had entered the facility, and she was following one in particular. It was the closest out of all of them, but it was also one of the largest. Whatever was waiting for them up ahead was either an incredibly large organism or some kind of small swarm.

Charging forward at full speed and shooting anything that got in her way, it didn't take Samus long to make it to the double doors of the lab. They were sealed behind a heavy blast shield, but one super missile blew clean off the frame.

Elisa jumped back, surprised at the intensity of the shot and panting with the amount of effort it had taken to keep up with Samus. The bounty hunter looked back at her, and she nodded. With that, Samus blasted open the doors and stepped through to the other side, the room to which her HUD had tracked the energy signature.

Elisa paused as Samus rushed in. She stared in horror into the lab. At least a dozen tanks lined the walls of the facility, all filled with jellyfish-like mutant organisms that seemed to have fangs instead of tentacles.

Metroids.

Samus seemed unbothered by the revelation, almost as though she had been expecting it. Her focus was on the man in the white coat, standing behind a computer terminal at the far end of the room.

"Samus Aran," Calvin Renpo said with a note of cockiness in his voice. "I had a feeling I'd be meeting you again. I had not expected you to bring your little friend though."

"Shut up, Renpo," she said. "You're under arrest for violation of the Federation bioweapons ban and conspiracy against the Federation in conjunction with the Uranian Party."

"Oh? Are you not still a fugitive yourself, Aran?" He sounded confident, but Samus knew he was just buying himself time before she took him down. "Perhaps you struck some sort of a deal with the new Federation order? Found a new master to play lap dog to?"

"Cut the crap," the bounty hunter said, walking forward. "I'm taking you in, and you're going to testify about what really happened on the BSL. About the X parasites, the SA-X, and the Metroid breeding program."

"Hold up, Aran!" There was note of urgency in his voice as he held his hand over a red hologram on the terminal. "You come one step closer to me, and I will release every Metroid in this room and make my escape as they suck the life from your mechanical corpse!"

Samus did not so much as slow down as she continued toward him. "They won't attack me. I'm one of them, remember?"

"You might be, but your little friend isn't!"

When Samus didn't stop coming toward him, he slammed his hand quickly into the hologram, practically shaking as he did so. As the tanks around the room flew open and the cacophonous _SKREE_ of the dozens of Metroids filled the room, he turned and tried to run for the emergency exit behind him.

It only took one well-placed shot from Samus's ice beam, however, to freeze the doctor's legs and bring him crashing to the ground.

"SAMUS!" Elisa cried as the Metroids rushed out of their prisons and directly toward her. She tried to shoot at them with her pulse rifle, but they were immune to its effects. They were nearly upon her when a sudden wave of ice diffused out from Samus's direction, freezing most of the small Metroids before they could get to their prey.

With a super human speed, the bounty hunter dove into the fray, putting herself between the thawing Metroids and her lover as she let out a spray of super missiles, each one hitting its mark and shattering a Metroid. But there were plenty more of the alien parasites, and even as Samus shattered the frozen ones, those were also regaining their mobility.

The bounty hunter did not seem to care, however. Without missing a beat, she switched to her ice beam, sending a volley of frozen shots their way and then doubling back and picking the frozen ones off with more super missiles. It was a bizarre and almost beautiful dance to watch the Hunter work with deadly speed and skill, cutting a swath in the Metroids' path and decimating their numbers until there were no more coming for Elisa.

Only a handful of the creatures remained now, and those that did had set their sights on the helpless scientist with the frozen legs. His shouts of terror were drowned out by the Metroids' battle cries as they readied their fangs and lunged through the air toward their prey.

But Samus was not about to let that happen, and before they could reach Renpo, the bounty hunter sent out another ice diffusion missile blast, freezing the majority of the Metroids. With the same lethal efficiency, she killed the parasites one by one with a dozen more missiles, keeping her cannon trained on their swarm until the last one exploded into nothing more than frozen pieces that littered the ground.

"I surrender!" Renpo shouted as he lay on the ground using his arms to cover his head. He had curled up into as much of a fetal position as his frozen legs would allow him.

"You what?" Samus asked, arm cannon pointed at his chest.

"I surrender! I'll testify! Whatever! Just take me in and get me out of here!"

The bounty hunter raised an eyebrow behind her visor. "That was pretty quick. You're not going to put up more of a fight?"

He lowered his arms and looked up at her, trembling from the fear and the unforgiving cold traveling through his body. "How? I have no weapons! And even if I did, you're Samus fucking Aran! I'm not stupid enough to try to fight you! You're a ruthless psychopath!"

"Psychopath?" There was a hint of amusement in Samus's voice as she stared down at the doctor.

"You can be half dead and slice open your hands or whatever just to burn anyone within arm's reach of you." He glared at her. "I'm not stupid enough to mess with that kind of crazy. Just cuff me or whatever and take me in. I'm done living on this godforsaken shithole station with General Stickupherass. And please unfreeze my legs before they shrivel up and fall off!"

Samus smirked as she shot a plasma beam at the ice around Renpo's legs. The scientist screamed, but it didn't burn him too badly. Samus knew better than to set the beam at full power for someone like him. She scanned him for weapons, and when she found none, she used her grapple beam to generate a set of human sized restraints that she affixed to his forearms and legs. When he was bound with his arms behind his back, she used the same grapple beam energy to connect the arm binders to the leg restraints, holding him in a sort of reverse-shrimp tie.

Once she was satisfied with her work, she turned to Elisa.

"Think you can get him back to the ship okay by yourself?"

Elisa looked down at the man and then back up to Samus. "He's bigger than I am. I can't carry him and a rifle."

The bounty hunter nodded and then looked around the lab before her eyes settled on a rolling supply cart. "We could shove him in there."

Elisa looked over to the supply cart and laughed. "You serious, Love?"

"Of course." Samus turned to look at Elisa before bending down, picking up Renpo by the scruff of his neck, and tossing him over onto the supply cart.

The scientist yelped in pain as she threw him, but neither of the two women cared.

"All right then," Elisa said, still feeling uneasy about transporting the prisoner by herself. "If you think I can make it back to the ship all right, I guess I'll give it a shot."

Samus nodded. "I have everything pulled up on my HUD. There are no biosigns coming from that sector and I've taken out the security drones. It's not like they're going to immediately respawn or anything when you go back into the room."

Elisa laughed nervously, but what Samus said made sense. "Okay."

She walked over to the cart and wordlessly began to push it toward the hatch through which they had entered.

"And Dear?" Samus called when Elisa was about to head out into the hall. "I love you. Be safe. And don't be afraid to contact me if you need anything."

Elisa grinned. "Don't worry, Love. I will."

As Elisa disappeared from view, Samus took a deep breath. She had little doubt that her wife would be safe on the walk back to the ship. Aside from the Metroids, there were no signs of any substantial enemies on this station. Harper didn't have an army anymore or any real attack monsters. Even if the security drones had alerted her of their presence, Elisa was not the one she would bother with. That honor belonged to Samus alone.

Checking her HUD one last time, the bounty hunter knew where the former General would be. She was not even trying to hide her location anymore. Both knew this would be the final conflict one way or the other, and there was no use in delaying it. Exiting through the hatch that had been behind Renpo, Samus walked out into a new corridor, cannon raised and ready as she approached the bio-signature on her HUD.

It didn't take her long to reach the room where Harper was waiting, and just as she suspected, the older woman was standing right there in the middle of it, expecting her arrival.

Samus froze as she entered the room, staring her opponent down and never lowering her cannon. To her surprise, Harper also sported a cannon at the end of one of her arms, the left one to be precise. The former General was dressed in an entire suit of armor not unlike the one Ruth had been wearing when Samus killed her. The only difference was that Harper's armor was much heavier than the Fusion suit, and instead of the blue and yellow of Ruth's suit, Harper's was a deep green with a silver under-layer. Her helmet was the same red as Samus's but the visor was a similar green to the organic outer layer of her suit.

"I see you've made a few improvements to your Zero Host experiment," Samus said, looking her up and down. "Although your power suit is still just a cheap knock-off of the real thing."

Harper raised her arm cannon, pointing it directly at Samus's heart. "We'll see about that. I've been working on this project long before you ever figured out what the Zero Host was."

Without any warning, the General shot a three-beam plasma blast at Samus. The bounty hunter was quick to dodge, jumping up into a screw attack and avoiding damage entirely before sending back her own shots of plasma. With a similar quickness, Harper dodged the beam fire with a dash to the side.

"You may be quick, Aran," the General taunted as she shot a few ice beam blasts, "but those cheap tricks will only get you so far."

Samus didn't have to take a hit to realize the General had found some way to mix wave beam functionality into the ice attacks. Instead, she remained silent and shot a few missile blasts as she dodged. For now, she was still just feeling out her opponent, getting a sense of what that suit was capable of.

Most of the missiles missed their mark, but one landed a clean hit. Harper stumbled back a step but seemed otherwise unfazed by it as she released her own volley of missiles. As one shot separated into five, Samus realized it was a series of seeker missiles and braced herself knowing she would never be able to evade all of them.

Taking direct hits from three of the five missiles, Samus watched as one of her energy tanks dropped, but it had less of an effect than she had been expecting. Whatever this latest change had caused to her suit, her defensive shielding seemed to be improving. It seemed comparable even to her Gravity Suit prior to the X infection.

As the smoke from Harper's missiles cleared, Samus fired off a round of plasma blasts toward her opponent, but once again the other woman dodged. This time, however, Harper's cannon was glowing green as if she had charged a shot while Samus was still taking damage from the missile strikes. Before the bounty hunter could dodge out of the way, the General released it, sending the fully charged blast Samus's way.

The beam of energy was unlike any she had used in battle thus far. It was a charged version of green and blue energy that had previously rendered Samus's suit unusable. The bounty hunter managed to dodge most of the shot, but a portion of it still hit her and exploded.

However, Samus ignored the blast, choosing instead to shoot a super missile of her own at her foe. Not expecting it, Harper didn't have time to dodge and took the full force of the missile to the chest. It threw her backwards but she remained standing, staring at Samus in shock.

"How is it possible?" The General asked, her tone betraying her disbelief. "How did you learn how to counteract the Zero Beam?"

Samus grunted but ignored the question as she shot two more missiles at her opponent. Harper dodged with a quick dash to the side but didn't shoot back at her.

"I find it hard to believe a dumb beast like you figured out to whip up any kind of protection against something like that."

Again, Samus ignored her taunting and began charging a beam shot of her own. Harper took the opportunity to fire off a few more missiles, but Samus's charged plasma shot burned them all up midair.

"You're the same person who didn't even know she was the Zero Host," Harper said as the two combatants went back and forth exchanging warning blows. "I thought it would have been obvious when you saw the Metroid-Xenomorph hybrids on the Bottle Ship. You were, after all, the only source of xenomorph DNA that came back from LV-426."

The Hunter remained silent as she rapid fired three plasma shots, all three scorching Harper as she barely managed to evade the worst of the attack.

"I thought you would have had us figured out then or that General Malkovich would have spelled it out for you before he killed himself." Try as she might, Harper was finding it more and more difficult to hit Samus as she realized the bounty hunter had only been playing with her for most of the battle. "You can imagine my surprise when I found out that instead of figuring it out, you had opted to drink yourself stupid for the better part of a year. I never thought I'd be guilty of over estimating you, but here I was."

Without a word, Samus fired off another missile and shot her in the face. The gloves were off now. As Harper staggered backward, Samus shot five consecutive super missiles into the General's chest, throwing the woman's body clear across the room. But that didn't stop Samus.

Fiery plasma rained from her gun, hot enough to match the rage within her. But even as she kept up her merciless onslaught against the General, Samus remained focused and in control. Plasma scorched Harper's armor even as she lay on the ground, and as Samus came to stand over her, she fired three more super missiles into her opponent's chest from point-blank range.

Harper's armor began to crack under the relentless attack and as the last missile detonated, her chest was fully exposed. But Samus didn't stop there. Kneeling down beside her defeated foe, the bounty hunter raised her left fist and punched straight through the Generals visor, exposing her bloody face as the shards from the cracked visor buried themselves deep into her skin.

With a primordial squawk, Samus rammed her foot down onto Harper's exposed chest as she tore off the General's robotic left arm, cannon and all, before throwing it clean across the room. Harper screamed as the previously integrated nerves burned with the same pain as if Samus had torn off her actual arm.

As Samus pushed her hot cannon against her enemy's face, Harper was whimpering and crying as tears, blood, and snot flowed together into an ugly mixture on her face.

"Adele Harper," Samus said in her deep, emotionless voice, "you are under arrest. And you will testify as to your part in this war and the violation of the bioweapons ban as well as your part in the murder of the late General Adam Malkovich."

Harper didn't say anything, but between sobs she managed to get a mouthful of blood and snot, which she spat up at Samus.

The bounty hunter tilted her head curiously. "I take it that's your refusal to testify. I could try to convince you. I have ways of doing that."

"F-fuck you… dog…"

"Very well." Samus's voice betrayed no emotion, but it was the detachment with which the masked hunter spoke that was the most unnerving. "I'll let you in on a little secret as well. I never had any intention of bringing you in. No, there's no punishment the new order of the Federation could dish out to you that would amount to even half of what you deserve."

Harper blinked as she stared up at Samus defiantly.

"Prison is too good for you," Samus continued. "And you wouldn't stay there for long. I know you powerful, connected types. There's a different set of rules for you than for the rest of us. I know I should let justice be done and have the Federation be able to try and punish you for your crimes against it, but I really just want to be the judge, jury, and executioner for the crimes you committed against me."

"I should have… killed you…" Harper muttered as her glassy eyes glared at Samus.

"You should have. You had ample opportunities to do so. You could have killed me as I lay dying from the X infection, but you wanted to see if your ultimate bioweapon could integrate Metroid DNA. You could have killed me after Ruth shot me with the Zero Beam and that dragon left me half dead at your feet, but you kept me alive and imprisoned me. You thought it better to leave me completely helpless with two soldiers who wanted nothing more than to say they conquered and had their way with the legendary Samus Aran.

"You made me murder my best friend, the only man I ever truly loved. My brother. You made me into a fugitive and had me cast out of the galaxy I have dedicated my entire life to serving. You attacked my wife in our home and imprisoned her and had her tortured. You stole my DNA and used it to build travesties that I had to put down. You had them amputate parts of my suit… parts of me… so that you could use them to create the SA-X.

"And if for nothing else, I can't let a good for nothing piece of shit like you live after you killed my dog. My Archer. My beloved and most faithful companion.

"No, Harper. I was never going to bring you into Federation custody because there is nothing they could do to you that would be any kind of justice after everything you've done to me. I should have killed you that day at Adam's fake funeral when I held you by your throat, consequences be damned."

Samus and Harper stared at one another for a long minute as Samus kept the arm cannon pressed against the woman's cheek.

"Do it," Harper croaked, blood running down the side of her mouth like drool. "Shoot me already, Aran. I'm not going to beg you for my life."

Samus just shook her head. "I didn't think you would."

But the bounty hunter pulled her cannon back from the woman's face as a light suddenly enveloped her body and disappeared to reveal Samus without her armor, wearing nothing more than her light blue jumpsuit.

"But shooting you would be too fast," the bounty hunter spat with a sharp note of malice in her tone as she lunged forward and began mercilessly punching the bloody General in the face.

It didn't stop there. Samus rained blow upon blow on every exposed part of Harper's body as the helpless woman shrieked under her assault. But even once Harper fell silent and ceased even the weakest whimpers of agony, Samus kept going. She whaled on Harper's corpse until her knuckles were so torn and bloody there was no way to tell where Harper's blood stopped and Samus's began. She pounded the body relentlessly until all of its ribs were shattered into pieces and her fists had hollowed out a hole in the center of her chest.

Samus was shaking with fury as she stood up long after her opponent had taken her last breath. With a guttural shriek, she activated her power suit once more and used the plasma beam to sever and cauterize the corpse's head before using it again to incinerate what remained of the body.

Taking the severed head in her left, hand, Samus left the smoldering remains of Adele Harper as she turned and walked toward her ship. Her gate betrayed no urgency as she headed toward it and entered the ship through the hatch. She didn't say anything as Chance, Elisa, and Renpo stared in horror as she casually walked into the cockpit carrying the severed head. She closed and locked the door behind her.

The trip to Daiban was uneventful. No one dared to say anything, not even the passengers even though they were well out of earshot of Samus. Only once they had landed in the Capitol City did Samus get up and leave the cockpit. She brushed wordlessly by the others, grabbing Renpo with her grapple beam as she still held Harper's head in her free hand.

She didn't bother trying to avoid detection as she exited the ship and strode out into the Capitol building itself, drawing the horrified attention of all of the onlookers. She didn't even bother to slow down when security guards tried to stop her. One look at her arm cannon pointed between their eyes, and no one said another word.

Even as she kicked in the door to the Grand Council's chambers, she didn't speak a word as she walked into the middle of their session. All chatter ceased as the stately Council Members stared in shock at the bloody mercenary carrying a prisoner and a severed head.

Only once she had their attention, Samus strode up to their long meeting table and threw Renpo into the middle of it along with the severed head.

"Pardon the interruption," she said in her eerily detached monotone, "but I believe you had been looking for these. At any rate, I'd very much like my name cleared as quickly as possible so I can collect my bounty and be on my way. Thank you."


	42. Chapter 42: Life, the Universe, and Everything

"I can't believe they're requiring me to get another psychological evaluation." Samus frowned as she looked at her discharge papers. Although the case against her had ultimately been thrown out thanks to the testimony of Calvin Renpo, she had still had to spend the past couple of months in jail awaiting the verdict.

"To be fair, Love," Elisa said, taking her partner's hand as they walked out onto the steps of the courthouse, "you did throw a severed head into the middle of their conference table. That sort of thing does tend to make most people a touch uneasy."

Samus looked up at the sky and took her first breaths of air as a free woman, something she had not been able to do in months. The atmosphere of Daiban was not as refreshing as the one on Earth, but it would serve for her purposes now. It just felt wonderful to be able to walk out in public without the fear of being arrested.

"I guess you have a point," Samus relented with a smile. She was dressed in a plain gray pants suit while Elisa wore a simple lavender dress.

The officer smiled as well as she took Samus's hand in hers and they made their way down the courthouse steps. It concerned her that the bounty hunter was still walking with a limp after all of this time, although she didn't seem to be in any pain today. The doctors on the Marine base had warned them that even though they had managed to save Samus's leg, there had been a substantial amount of damage and she would likely never walk properly again.

At the time, Elisa had written it off that they just were not familiar with Samus's genetic structure and enhanced healing abilities, but now, nearly four months after the initial injury, it was looking more and more like some of the damage would be permanent. On some level, Elisa would have to admit that Samus being released from jail worried her given the mercenary's penchant for running head first into life threatening situations. At least behind bars she had been safe.

"I know I blew up a planet and all," Samus said, snapping Elisa's mind back into the present time as they strolled out onto the walkway, "but you would think they would have been able to get me a court date sooner than two months after my arrest."

"Well," Elisa replied, "as you said, you did blow up a planet. And again, that whole severed head thing…"

Samus rolled her eyes. "No one's ever going to let me live that down, are they?"

Elisa laughed, swinging their hands as they walked along. It was a beautiful day, and she figured they might as well enjoy it before boarding the space ship for the trip back to Earth. From what Morrigan had told her over the phone that morning, there was still a few inches of snow on the ground around Blackacre.

It didn't take long before Samus and Elisa met up with the rest of their group. Hector, Abridgette, and Chance were all dressed in their formal courtroom attire as they stood around the shuttle that was parked and waiting for them.

Hector grinned as he ran up and threw his arms around his mother, and she held him close as she ruffled his hair. It felt strange to her to have to reach up to touch the top of her son's head now that he was taller than her.

"Mom!" he yelled, giving Samus a kiss on her cheek as he pulled away to look at her. "You did it! You're free!"

Samus grinned. It felt wonderful to be free at last and surrounded by her family once more. Just five months ago she had thought she would never see them again.

"It's good to see you too, Spawn." She smiled at Abby and Chance. "It's good to see all of you."

"Definitely!" Chance was beaming with happiness as Samus walked over to him and threw her arms around his lithe frame before turning to hug Abby as well.

"Good to have you back, Samus," Abby said as she hugged her back. "It hasn't been the same without you around to keep things interesting."

Samus just nodded before turning back to Hector. "Is your father meeting us over at Blackacre?"

"Yeah. He's bringing your animals too. Apparently after people up in Willow Green realized you and Elisa were gone, they brought your pets over to him and asked him to look after them. He was confused but agreed, and he's been taking care of them ever since."

Samus smiled. "That doesn't surprise me. Jack's a good man."

"Yeah." Hector nodded. "Dad's pretty cool like that."

"Hector," Samus asked, "have you told him yet about the engagement?"

The young man shook his head as he looked over to Abby and then back at Samus. "We were going to wait until we saw him. He has no idea."

"Do me a favor then," Samus said, "and don't let him know you told me first."

Both Hector and Abby looked confused as they stared at Samus.

"Why not?" her son asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Hector," she replied, "your father raised you from the day you were born. He's been there for all the most important moments of your life and dedicated his life to nothing but caring for you. He deserves to have been the first one to know his son is getting married, and I think it would mean a lot to him. Especially with the way you've been worrying him these past few months."

Hector looked embarrassed, though he tried to hide it. "I guess all this must have been pretty hard on him, too."

Samus nodded. "It's been hard on all of us."

"But," Elisa cut in taking Samus's hand and gently pulling her toward the shuttle, where the driver had been waiting during their reunion, "some of us have definitely been through a bit more than others, and I'll venture a guess that watching our dogs was less taxing on Jack than everything you've been through, Love. We should hurry and get you back to Earth so you can settle in."

Samus let Elisa pull her along, but she didn't hurry. As much as she understood how eager everyone else was to get her away from where she had been a prisoner on Daiban, she was in no rush. It felt good to be out stretching her legs and feeling the planet's sun on her face. With no other missions lined up, she would have plenty of time to settle in once they got to Earth.

* * *

Samus sat on the side of the hill beside the pond, watching silently as the sun danced over the small ripples on its surface left by a family of ducks swimming by. It was a beautiful early spring day and she decided to spend it sitting outside on the grounds of Blackacre. It had been nearly a month since she had arrived on Earth, and Elisa had transferred back to the Rosewood Police Department until they figured out where they wanted to go from here.

Neither of them were rushing into a decision, and part of Samus was not sure if she wanted to stay on Earth or even anywhere in Federation territory. There had been a part of her since the beginning that had actually enjoyed the idea of living out in deep space again like she had in her early days as a bounty hunter. But she had been younger then and hadn't had a family.

Her eyes glanced over to the black cane lying beside her on the grass. It reminded her that there were other reasons why she could not just take off and live out in deep space for the rest of her life. The Zero Host incident had taken away more than just her comfort with life in the Federation. There was permanent damage to her left leg, and while it resulted in little more than a limp most days, it was crippling on days like this when it would flare up.

The doctors had wanted her to take medication for the pain, but she had refused. Between what they made her take for her PTSD, her acidic blood, and now her heart, she was starting to feel like a walking pharmacy. She hated it.

But she dealt with it. And she was good about taking the medicines she needed to. Not for herself, but for Elisa and her son. She had put them through enough in the past few years.

Still, it was difficult for her. On days like this, she felt useless. Elisa would go off to work, but Samus had not accepted a new mission since she had gotten out of prison. She had thought about it a couple of times, but there hadn't been anything truly urgent. And given how the BSL mission had gone, she didn't feel up to rushing into anything no matter how simple it seemed on paper.

Not that she would have been able to take on a mission that day given her physical condition. Samus winced as she stretched her leg out. She was definitely grounded for the time being.

It made her nervous. She was no stranger to permanent injuries given the damage to her brain and dark scarring all over her body. The idea that an entire limb was crippled, however, genuinely frightened her.

There were a lot of thoughts racing through her head, thoughts she did not feel up to dealing with alone, so she pulled the little earpiece from the pocket of her leather jacket and put it on.

"Lady?" the voice of the Adam AI said as soon as the earpiece was in place.

"Hey, Adam." She managed a weak smile. Even if the computer was a poor substitute for the man himself, there was something about hearing his voice that comforted her.

"You seem troubled," he said. "What's wrong?"

Since she had gotten back to Blackacre, she had given the AI full access to monitor her heart and other vital signs via a bracelet she wore. It was useful for getting people to stop nagging her about her health, but it was annoying because the computer seemed hypersensitive to the point of being able to pinpoint changes in her mood.

"Same old shit," she said, staring absently over the pond. "Brooding over the tragic events of my recent past."

"I should have guessed." There was a note of amusement in the AI's voice. "And is it helping you process everything?"

"No. That's why I dug you out of my pocket. Because stupidly enough, all these years later, my first instinct when I'm upset is to call Adam."

"I see."

Samus shook her head. "No, you can't see. You can't do anything… you can't put your hand on my back or pet my hair and ground me when I feel like my mind is spiraling out of my control. You're as useless as I am…"

Adam was quiet for a moment as he processed what Samus said. "You're not useless, Lady. You've quite literally saved the lives of everyone in the galaxy multiple times. You were a key player in overthrowing the corruption in the Federation itself and restoring the galaxy to a state of peace."

"Logically, I know you're right," she said. "But lately I feel like logic just isn't getting through to me."

"What's wrong?"

Samus stared blankly into the distance. "I… I'm scared."

"Of what?"

"What if I can't fight anymore? Not as good as I used to anyway…"

"Because of your leg?"

"Maybe." Samus grunted. "The power suit can help with that, even if it would still be a weak point… but there are so many things wrong with me. There's so little of me that feels like me anymore with all these stupid alien parts I have now. And knowing I could have another heart attack or something… that something might be going wrong inside my body and I have no way of knowing what that is until something happens…. That scares me."

"That's a very human way to feel, Lady. Feeling scared because your physical body is changing and feels like it's out of your control. For all that your DNA may be alien now, your mind is still very much human. And despite everything that has transpired in the years since my last memories as a living man, you still seem very much like Samus Aran."

Samus smiled. "In a weird way, hearing you say that actually makes me feel better. Like maybe I haven't become some completely unrecognizable creature."

"Not at all. You're still Samus, through and through. And just like always, I think you need to stop being so hard on yourself and give yourself some time to sort through and process everything your feeling. Right now it's all tangled up and overwhelming, but you've dealt with some incredibly emotionally heavy stuff in your life. Enough that most people would have crumbled under the weight of it long ago. And this is no different. It's just another challenge."

She nodded. "You haven't changed so much yourself. You still know how to snap me out of my stubborn angst sessions. One of these days, I really should get to work on building you that android body I promised. I guess I finally have time for it now."

Adam was quiet for a moment, just long enough for his silence to confuse Samus.

"Lady," the AI said gently. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"What?"

"Samus, you told me you fought a clone of yourself who went by the name of Ruth."

"Yeah. What's Ruth got to do with this?"

"Ruth, if she is who I believe she is, contained the mind of a woman named Ruth Carter. She was a scientist for the Federation, but she was diagnosed with a terminal cancer while she was still a young woman. She had a husband and two children in life, and right before she died, he family was able to have her mind uploaded into the Federation neural database."

Samus made a face. "So they used her template for my clone's brain? Why are you bringing this up now?"

"Ruth's mother fought tooth and nail to have her daughter's mind put into another body, something strictly prohibited by Federation protocols at the time under the same act that banned bioweapons. It had the same premise. Life shouldn't be tampered with, and when it ends, it should not be resurrected. When minds are uploaded into the neural database, the Federation mostly saves them for their thought patterns, but the memories and personal connections are suppressed."

"Yeah," Samus said, "I know. That's why you were such a snarky jerk on the BSL until you started to remember me. Again, why are we talking about Ruth?"

"My human form, Adam Malkovich, gave the order that Ruth was not to be put into a human body. In fact, he believed that her mother had become obsessed with her in such an unhealthy fashion that he ordered her mind erased from existence. And in doing so, he made himself an enemy would who eventually bring about his end."

Samus's eyes widened. "Harper…"

"Ruth Carter, née Harper, was General Harper's daughter. I had all but forgotten about Ruth Harper until you returned from the _Arcadia_ and told me of your encounter with her, the things she had said before you killed her. And I realized how wrong it would be for me to allow my mind to be put into a new body when I had denied Harper that same request when she had lost her daughter."

Samus just nodded.

"I can't allow you to build me a body, Samus. It would be hypocritical of me. My family has mourned me and moved on with their lives. It would be cruel of me to come back like that as a sort of half man half machine. Just an automated program in an empty shell that is just enough like the man they loved in order for it to hurt them when they realize the limitations inherent in my programming. I won't do that to them. I shouldn't have done it to you."

"Samus?" a voice called suddenly from behind the bounty hunter.

She had just enough time to pull the piece from her ear and wipe the tears from her eyes before turning around to see Elisa walking toward her.

"Samus, Love." Still in her uniform, she smiled as she approached Samus. "I'm home!"

Samus smiled, unable to help herself given the joy she felt seeing her partner. It was a complete one-eighty from what she had been feeling only moments ago and the abrupt shift in her emotions nearly brought her to tears again.

"Elisa," she called as she started to get up, but the officer was quicker and got down on the ground beside Samus before throwing her arms around her and trapping her in a warm embrace.

"It feels so good," she said as she kissed the mercenary on the cheek, "to come home and see you waiting here for me. I love you so much, Samus!"

Samus hugged her wife tightly as she buried her face into Elisa's thick, dark hair. "I love you, too. And I'm so happy to see you home safe."

Elisa pulled away, gently helping Samus to her feet before bending down to retrieve the mercenary's cane for her. Samus's face turned red with embarrassment, but Elisa held her hand and squeezed it. "Nothing to be ashamed of, Love. Most people would not be doing anywhere near as well as you are after having their limbs crunched by an acid-spewing dragon."

Samus just nodded without saying anything. It was still a difficult topic for her any time it came up.

"By the way," Elisa said with a sly smile, "I didn't come home alone today."

"Oh?" Samus looked curious. "Did Hector and Abby come to visit?"

Elisa shook her head. "No. There's someone here in a much more official capacity."

"Who?"

The officer grinned. "The Chairman of the Federation himself!"

Samus's eyes widened as she looked past her partner's shoulder to see three figures walking toward them over the estate grounds. On either side was a tall cat-like humanoid in a sharp black suit and tie. And in the center was the man himself, the newly elected Chairman of the Galactic Federation.

"Chairman Dane is here?" Samus could hardly believe it as she watched him approach. "What could he possibly want with me?"

Elisa rolled her eyes. "Oy, Samus… you literally saved the galaxy a bunch of times and helped rebuild the Federation. Why wouldn't Chairman Dane want to see you?"

The bounty hunter looked down at her leather jacket and baggy cargo pants. Her hair was in a messy ponytail. She did not look like she was ready for a meeting with the Chairman.

"Stop being so self conscious," Elisa said as though reading her mind. "He may be Chairman now, but he's still the same old Admiral Dane you've been working with since the Phaaze Incident."

Samus watched as Dane and his bodyguards approached. The Chairman was dressed in a very well-tailored suit that was nearly the same color as his Admiral's uniform had been. He still wore many of his medals and rank insignia as though to remind people where he had come from. She was not sure what to say or how to react to the Chairman's presence, but in a lot of ways she was happy to see him. It was a reminder that she finally had someone on her side in the Federation again.

"Samus Aran!" he called out to her in his familiar voice. "Good to see you again!"

"Good to see you, too, Chairman Dane." She grinned as she used his new title. It was the first time she had been able to say it to his face since he had been elected.

"I want to apologize for surprising you like this," he said as he shook her hand. "It's not often I have a spare moment to get away from Daiban, so I need to seize the opportunity when it arrives."

"I understand that feeling well," Samus replied. "I don't know how I found time to eat and sleep during those last few years of the Space Pirate War, although according to Adam I don't think I actually did much of either…"

The Chairman nodded. "General Malkovich told me about that. You used to worry him sick back then."

The mercenary laughed. "I don't think there was a time I ever didn't worry him sick."

Dane just smiled and nodded again before turning to Elisa and his bodyguards. "Would all of you excuse us for a few minutes? I'd like some time to speak to Samus in private."

One of the muscular cat-like creatures shook their head. "I don't think that's such a good idea. We're here for your own protection, Sir."

"Don't worry about that," Dane said, dismissing the humanoid's concern with a wave of his hand. "I don't think I could get any safer than being in the presence of the legendary Samus Aran."

The two cat creatures eyed Samus questioningly, and she straightened up her posture in an attempt to look strong despite the cane at her side.

"Fine," the creature relented eventually, shaking their head and looking at Samus one more time. "But if anything happens, it will be our jobs."

"Nothing will happen," Dane reassured them as the two felines and Elisa turned to walk off. He watched them go until they were well out of earshot before turning to Samus once more. "How have you been feeling, Samus? I know when you came to the hospital on our base you were in pretty rough shape. I can't imagine spending two months in prison did much for your spirits."

Samus shrugged. "I'm adjusting."

"I know a thing or two about that," Dane said as Samus's gaze flickered over his eye patch. "Brushes with mortality aren't easy to get past, though I'm sure you're aware of that. Scars have their own effect, but a permanent physical loss… I'm just glad you can still walk, Samus."

The mercenary nodded. "It's not normally this bad. Normally I don't need any extra support, but the damn thing just flairs up sometimes."

Dane nodded. "You sustained some terrible injuries during the Zero Host incident. It took a lot from you."

"Yeah, well… better than the alternative, I guess. I could be dead or McKinnon could still be in power."

"True." Dane regarded her very seriously. "But you've made an incredible sacrifice. Not just in the Zero Host incident, but in everything you did during the Space Pirate War and protecting the galaxy from the threat of the X parasites. You've dedicated your whole life to protecting the galaxy, and you've never been properly acknowledged for it."

Samus shook her head. "No, I used to get paid pretty well for the missions I took. Feds were always good about that."

The look in Dane's eye was almost sad as he looked at Samus. "That's not what I was referring to." He reached into a pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a little black box. Samus eyed it curiously as he held it out and opened it for her.

Samus gasped as she saw the small testimonial inside. It was a medal, a round blue pendant with the white four-pointed star symbol of the Federation within it. "That's a Platinum Star."

"Yes," Dane said as he handed it to Samus, and she took it tentatively. "I'm awarding it to you."

"That's… the military's highest honor. I can't accept this medal… I'm a civilian." Samus tried to hand the box back to Dane, but he held out his hand and gently pushed it back to her.

"That's another thing I never agreed with," the Chairman said. "You were in the Army, but your veteran status was stripped from you. And yet you worked with our military for years during the Space Pirate War. You fought with us, suffered with us. The only difference was that we still had each other at the end of the day while you were turned out to fend for yourself without access to benefits or services that would have helped you. That was wrong."

"What are you saying?" Samus was confused as she looked between Dane and the medal.

"Samus, what are your plans now? Where will you go from here?"

Samus could feel her adrenaline spike as it always did when she encountered that question. "I don't know. I guess I'll just do what I've always done. Take missions. Help people."

"And what of your family? And your condition?"

The mercenary looked down at the cane and shook her head. "I've thought about it. But I don't think I can settle down and stop now just because I'm… disabled." She had difficulty saying the word as though it tasted foreign and foul in her mouth. "Even if my body isn't what it used to be, if I've still got one or two missions left in me, well… it would save a lot of people. I don't think I could just sit by and be safe knowing that it was at the expense of those lives."

Dane's face looked hard and empty as he regarded Samus. "So you want to keep fighting until you die."

"That's my job." Samus shrugged. "Galactic savior and all. It's what I was made for."

"And what about your wife and son?"

Samus looked down and fidgeted with the cane. "I don't… I don't know. I've had the opportunity to take jobs since I've been out of jail, but I haven't taken any of them. I just can't…"

"What if I told you there was a way to continue to serve and protect the galaxy without continuing to destroy yourself the way you have been?"

The mercenary snorted as she laughed. "And how would I do that?"

The Chairman was serious. "I want to offer you a position."

"What? Like a consultant or something?"

Dane shook his head. "I need people like you to help us rebuild the Federation. The civil war left such a schism it will take a long time to heal, and all branches of the military have taken serious hits. We need good, strong people."

Samus raised an eyebrow. "You want me to go back into the Army?"

"Negative. I'm a Marine, and I think you would have made an excellent Marine had you been given the proper resources and opportunities. I'm here to offer you a position as a Marine Officer, one who will report directly to me."

"I… I don't know what to say to that." Samus's eyes were wide, and part of her felt like he must have been joking. "No one has ever asked me to actually join the Federation military. I don't know how well I could adapt to that kind of setting. I didn't do so well the last time."

"Last time you were a teenager. You've already proven yourself as a more than capable warrior and someone with good judgment, someone who doesn't just keep quiet and toe the line when she thinks something is wrong. You've got good instincts, and I trust you, Samus Aran. You're still young. It would be a waste for you to throw yourself back into solo missions and lose your life. It's not too late to change course. If you take the Officer position, we would train you, of course, and we would find ways to work around your limitations. You would always have the support of the military. You could still protect the galaxy but you could also live and have a life."

Samus smiled as she looked down at the Platinum Star in her hands, and tears streamed down her face. "I am deeply, deeply honored to accept this medal, Chairman Dane. And I would be honored to serve as a Federation Marine Officer."


	43. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, we made it. The epilogue for the final story in the Human series. I really can't believe I'm typing this, but I am. This series has been my life for nearly two years and it feels so strange to know next time I sit down at my computer to write, I'll be moving on to a completely new project. 
> 
> My goal is to write an original novel, but we'll see. I love fan fiction.
> 
> While there definitely won't be a part five to Samus's story, I may go back and do a few one-shots or short stories. Just for fun. I don't know when that will be.
> 
> Thank you, one final time, to everyone who has read, reviewed, and supported this series through the past two years, whether you were here from the beginning or just started. You've all given me the motivation to make this happen, and I am so, so happy you did. I never thought, when I started Human in 2015 that it would get past the first couple of chapters, let alone have a sequel. Let alone have three sequels in over 400k words of the quadrilogy. 
> 
> If you want to get in contact with me to ask any questions or talk about this story or my future word, feel free to inbox me on here or on my eevee-nicks tumblr page. I'll still be around.
> 
> So without further ado, here we go. The epilogue to the final installment in the Human Series.
> 
> See you next mission!

 

 

 

Snow fell for the first time that year, early enough that the white powder dusted over the amber leaves still on their branches. It was a crisp afternoon with a bit of bite in the air, and the small New England town was mostly quiet. Most of its residents had traveled elsewhere for work hours ago, but a small group remained.

Nestled into a small thicket of forest, away from the main roads and thoroughfares stood a small nondenominational chapel. It looked like it was hewn from the same wood as the maples around it and blended almost perfectly into the natural backdrop. It might have camouflaged out of sight except for the stained glass windows that adorned its outer walls and the long hover limousines parked out in front. The drivers waited patiently for the people gathered inside.

It had been nearly four years since the Galactic Civil War had ended, and while there were still many rifts in need of mending, none of that seemed to matter on this day. Within the small chapel, there was no lack of Federation officials, some from the highest offices of the government, and they were gathered together for one special event.

The wedding of the daughter of the late General Adam Malkovich to the son of the legendary war hero Samus Aran.

Within the chapel, the two young lovers stood beneath the chuppah, hand in hand as the State representative read his part of the ceremony. Hector smiled as he and Abby locked eyes with one another, listening to the vows they had written and waiting for their cues to respond.

Hector's sandy hair was neatly trimmed and styled, and he looked absolutely dashing in his finely tailored tuxedo. Before him, Abridgette stood in her long white gown and veil. The dress was an elaborate garment adorned with lace that began just above her breasts and extended over her collarbone and down both arms and the entirety of her back. At the bottom, the dress scalloped slightly in the front, transitioning to a long train in the back.

It was the most ornate outfit Hector has ever seen his bride wear, and he thought she looked like a princess. Adoration filled his eyes and Abby could see he shared her feelings. At that moment, they felt like the two luckiest people in the galaxy.

"Do you, Hector Aran Fields," the representative began, "take Corporal Abridgette Jane Malkovich to be your lawfully wedded wife in this Galactic Federation sanctioned union?"

"I do," Hector said, practically beaming as he gave Abby's hand a small squeeze.

"And do you, Corporal Abridgette Jane Malkovich, take Hector Aran Fields to be your lawfully wedded husband in this Galactic Federation sanctioned union?"

"I do," she replied, staring eagerly into her partner's eyes.

"All right then, by the power vested in me by the Galactic Federation Grand Council of Daiban, I now pronounce you legally wedded partners of a domestic union."

Hector pulled Abby close to him as their lips met in a deep kiss, the first of many more to come in their married life. When they finished, they stood locked arm in arm, just holding one another and grinning as though there were no one else around them. There was no one and nothing else in the galaxy but the two of them as they stomped together on the napkin-wrapped glass at their feet.

* * *

The wedding reception was certainly not the most elaborate one there ever was, but it was far larger than the actual ceremony. It was held in a banquet hall they had rented out, and many of the attendees were current or former military. Given that the fathers of both the bride and the groom had served in the Federation Army and Abby was now a corporal in the Army, it only made sense.

The reception itself was fairly modest. There was a long buffet of food, a dance floor, and an open bar. The newlyweds could have afforded something fancier, but they had opted to save their money for a down payment on the house they would be moving into after they returned from the honeymoon.

Abby sighed happily as she sat at the elevated spot at the head of the table beside her husband. It felt wonderful to be finished with the stress of planning the wedding and to be finally starting their lives together. She smiled as she noticed a few latecomers arriving, some of the soldiers who had served under her father during the Space Pirate War. It broke her heart that he could not be there to see the wedding, and she knew that his old Army friends knew that.

The new bride dismissed herself from the table as she made her way over to the door. A few people tried to get her attention, but she brushed by them pretending not to notice and hoping they wouldn't be offended. If she stopped for everyone who wanted to speak to her, she'd never get a chance to talk to the person she wanted to.

"Uncle Anthony!" she called as she made her way through to the group of new people.

"Hey, Abby!" a tall black man replied. He grinned with the most infectious smile that lit up his face all the way to his eyes. His head was shaved clean, and he was dressed in a loose-fitting but still perfectly pressed gray suit.

"I'm so glad you could make it!" She smiled back at him, genuinely pleased to see him. Anthony Higgs had been a soldier in her father's unit back when Adam had been a lieutenant colonel. Abby had seen him many times growing up, including after moving to Earth, but she had not seen him since the General's funeral.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." He gave her one of his big bear hugs that radiated with the same warmth he did. "I'm really happy for you and Hector."

Abby nodded as she pulled away. "I still can't believe it's really happening, but here we are."

"Your father would have been so proud if he were here right now. He used to talk about you and your sister a lot. Well… a lot considering how rarely he spoke about anything other than business."

"Thank you." Abby smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes as her father's old friend mentioned what had been on her mind the entire night. "Even though he can't be here, I'm sure he's glad you came. I know I am."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Abby stood up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on Anthony's cheek, but he was too tall and had to lean over so she could reach.

"Say," Anthony said with an impish look in his eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know where the Colonel is at right now, would you?"

"Over there," Abby said as she grinned and gestured toward a quieter corner near the buffet. "Over with the rest of the Marines."

Anthony grinned. "I hope you don't mind if I head over that way and say hello."

"Not at all. I'll be here all night. It's kind of my wedding and all."

Anthony chuckled as he and Abby hugged again. Once they separated, he made his way over toward the group of Marines in the back. He had his eyes on one Marine in particular, the tall blonde Colonel dressed in the black tuxedo.

"Colonel Aran?" he called out, and she turned to look at him. It took her a second to recognize him, but when she did, she grinned from ear to ear.

"Anthony!" Samus looked him up and down as though she could not believe he was really there. "Long time no see!"

"I could say the same thing to you. I'm not even sure what to call you now. Princess Colonel Aran? Colonel Princess? Or just stick with Princess by itself?"

Samus snickered as she punched him in the arm. "Still going on about that after all this time? What's it been now, twenty-six years?"

Anthony laughed in his whole-hearted jovial way. "Can't say I've been willing to count that far back so I'll take your word for it. You still look good as ever."

The Marine Colonel grunted and ran a hand through her long hair. She was wearing make-up in her best attempt to conceal some of her facial scarring, but it was still obvious. "I look like I've been through thirty years of war."

"I know," Anthony said with a gentler smile. "You look like the warrior queen you are, and it looks good on you."

Samus's face turned slightly red as she turned to the three Marines she had been speaking to before he arrived. "Anthony, these are Leslie, Tom, and Andy. They're my friends."

Anthony raised his eyebrows in disbelief and laughed. "Oh my goodness! You finally made friends!"

Samus's face turned redder as the redheaded Marine named Leslie reached out and shook Anthony's hand. "Pleased to meet you, Anthony. Any friend of Sam's has got to be a pretty great guy."

"The pleasure's all mine," he said with a smile. "You watch out for her and don't let her go blowing up anymore planets."

"Hey!" Samus yelled in mock-anger. "You know I don't normally blow up planets! They just kind of explode on their own for some reason or another while I'm there!"

"Mmhmm…" Anthony raised an eyebrow. "All just a lot of coincidences." He shook his head. "Almost forgot to congratulate you on being the mother of the groom. Of course, I only just found out a month ago that you had a kid at all… Any other surprises I should know about? He got a twin or anything?"

"Well…" Samus wore a guilty half-smile as she looked over to see Elisa walking toward them.

"Samus?" Elisa asked, looking between her wife and Anthony. "Who's your new friend?"

Anthony looked between Samus and a very pregnant Elisa as his grin doubled in size. "No way!"

"Heh." Samus flashed the simple titanium wedding band on her left hand. "Semi-humans can marry now, so we finally did it for real."

"And…?"

Samus smirked and shrugged. "Yeah."

"I'm due next month," Elisa said with a playful smile. "A little girl."

"Her name is Xiomara," Samus said, placing her hands lovingly on her wife's shoulders. "Xiomara Virginia Aran."

"Hey Anthony," Leslie said, snapping everyone's attention away from Samus and Elisa's intimate moment. "Sam and the rest of us are going out to the shooting range tomorrow. If you're still gonna be planetside by then, do you wanna join us?"

"Well," the tall man said in his jovial tone, "I guess that depends. It's been a long time since Sam and I have been shooting together, and I wouldn't want to infringe on her time, especially considering she's a big shot Marine Colonel now."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Anthony, you dork. I'm still the same person I always was."

"So that settles it then. I should just call you Princess then like when we were in the Army together?"

Samus glared at him. "That's Colonel Princess."

* * *

**10 years later**

"October nineteenth, twenty-two fifty-three," Abridgette said as she looked down at the small fidgeting bundle in her arms. Her long brown hair was caked with sweat as she sat up in her hospital bed. She looked exhausted, but her face was glowing. "Ten pounds. Seven ounces."

"He's a big boy," Hector said as he tried to sit as best he could on the bed beside her. He wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders as they looked down at their newborn son. His eyes were closed, and his hands were balled into tiny fists.

"Absolutely massive," Abby said with a tired grown. "Two pounds bigger than the last one. And they said labor with the second one was supposed to be easier. Easier my ass!"

Hector laughed. "Easy, Dear. You don't want that to be his first word!"

Abby rolled her eyes. "I think we've got some time before we have to worry about all that. He's basically a squishy little potato boy right now."

"True." Hector kissed her on the cheek. "But Mom and Elisa are bringing Morrigan by in a bit to meet her new brother, and I don't want her to hear you talking like that."

"Please." Abby laughed. "You left her with _your mother_. I can guarantee she's already heard more from Samus today than she's heard from me in three years."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and Hector jumped off the bed to let their visitors in.

"Where is he?" a ten-year-old girl screamed as she ran into the room excitedly. She had long black hair that went all the way down her back, and she was dressed in a pink blouse with a butterfly on it and a pair of jeans. She froze as she saw Abby in bed with the baby and stared up at her with her round blue eyes. "Is that him?"

Abby laughed as she looked at the girl. She was practically trembling with excitement. "Yes, Xiomara. This is your nephew."

"Can I hold him?" she asked eagerly.

"Not yet, kid," Samus called from where she was standing in the doorway, smirking in amusement at the scene before her. Though she was a Marine General now, the former bounty hunter still looked much the same as she always had. In addition to her signature leather jacket, however, she was now sporting an ornate dragon-headed cane. Her face showed her fifty-two years much like a human's would aside from its alien markings, but her long blonde hair was now streaked with a silvery iridescent blue in place of a human's normal gray. "Wait until you're both a little bigger, okay? He's too new right now."

Xiomara looked crestfallen, but she backed down. "Okay, Sammy. I'll wait. I can be patient."

"Good girl, Xo," Elisa said as she walked into the room holding the hand of a toddler girl with short-clipped light brown hair. She turned to Hector and Abby. "Congrats on baby number two. You're braver than I am."

Samus nodded from where she stood in the doorway. "Yes. Much braver. One was… quite the challenge."

Abby laughed nervously. "That means a lot coming from you."

Samus took a few steps into the room and grimaced. She tried to hide it, but Abby caught it before you could.

"Bad pain day, Samus?" she asked.

"Heh," the Marine General grunted as she made her way over to a chair and sat down. "A lot less painful than childbirth, but yeah."

"I keep telling her," Elisa said, shooting Samus a look. "Two years in the Army. Twenty years as a bounty hunter. And fourteen years in the Marines. There's no shame in taking something to make herself feel better. But she insists on enduring this."

Samus made a noise. "I don't have that many bad days anymore. Once in a blue moon. It just happened to be today."

"Are you trying to say it's a coincidence," Elisa teased, "and it had nothing to do with the fact that you were pacing in a circle for close to eight hours while Abby was in labor?"

"They might be connected. Tangentially."

"Uh huh…" Elisa gave Samus a look and was about to say something when another visitor came through the door followed by a massive fluffy black and white Malamute.

"Sorry I'm late!" Chance called as he and the dog ran into the room. The canine bounded excitedly over to Samus as it rested its giant head in her lap as she stroked it. "I had a bit of a hard time getting Fluff past security."

"You brought a dog into a hospital, Chance!" Abby said as she watched the huge animal's tail wagging rapidly from side to side. "That's gotta be against some kind of health code or something that I can't remember because I just pushed a whole human out of me…"

"Hey, Fluff," Samus said softly as she smiled at the dog and he looked up to lick her face. "How's my good boy doing?"

"How's the baby doing?" Chance asked as he looked over to the tiny sleeping bundle in Abby's arms.

"Quiet." Abby smiled tiredly. "Finally."

"Can I hold him?" Chance asked, his ears perking up.

Abby shook her head. "His grandma hasn't even had the chance to do that yet."

Samus shot a murderous glare at her daughter-in-law. "Abridgette Jane, you know you are forbidden from ever calling me that."

Abby rolled her eyes as Hector carefully took the baby from her and carried him to where Samus was sitting.

"Get outta here, Fluff," he said, gently nudging the dog away. "Don't worry, Mom. I won't call you that word you hate. You're still Sammy to Morrigan, and you'll be Sammy to Adam too."

Samus smiled as she took the tiny child into her arms and cradled him in the way she had never cradled his father. As she looked down at him, he opened his eyes to stare up at her. He had the same blue eyes she had had when she was fully human.

A small coo escaped from the baby as he flailed one arm and tried to reach up at her. Samus took his tiny hand in two of her fingers and smiled.

"Elisa," Chance called, holding his camera. "Hector, stand around Samus and Adam. Xiomara and Morrigan, you girls get in the picture, too!"

The others shuffled by, but Samus paid them no mind as she looked down at her son's son. A couple of tears rolled down her cheeks as her chest filled with more emotion than she could easily process. It was part fear of what the child would encounter in the world and part joy for what he would bring to the world, and she just sat quietly and let herself feel it as she held the tiny new life in her arms.

She knew that for all she had done, he would be safer here than the world she had been born into. There were no wars going on, no more than the typical amount of political strife. He had two parents who would love him dearly as well as other family who would be there every step of the way. And she would protect him, as she did for all those she loved, with her life.

As she looked down at little Adam, the rest of the world fell away, and she smiled. For this one moment, Samus Aran and the galaxy were completely at peace.

**The End**


End file.
